ASX to continue its December rally; Vaccine news lifts Wall Street

Pfizer Inc also advanced as it cleared the next hurdle in the race to get its COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency use, after the US health regulator released documents raising no new safety or efficacy issues.

“You’ve seen from the most recent lows of late October that we’ve been melting up through the first week of December in anticipation of what is coming to fruition at this point, which is now imminent approval of a vaccine and some of that distribution,” said Bill Northey, senior investment director at US Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis.

“We’ve seen much of this priced in and pulled forward and now it is all about balancing that push-pull of the current reality of a still somewhat muted economic environment that is dependent upon a health solution and being on the precipice of a health solution.”

Wall Street’s main indexes have traded in a tight range to start the trading week, as investors look for more stimulus in the face of surging COVID-19 cases and fresh restrictions in California.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said lawmakers should pass an aid package that includes measures they can agree on while excluding provisions such as liability protections for businesses that are causing division.

Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 113.29 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 30,183.08, the S&P 500 gained 10.62 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 3,702.58 and the Nasdaq Composite added 61.85 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 12,581.80.

Investors are closely watching whether policymakers will be able to clinch an agreement on a long-awaited coronavirus relief bill and a $US1.4 trillion spending bill, with Friday eyed as a deadline to avoid a government shutdown.

The US Congress will vote this week on a one-week stopgap funding bill to provide more time for lawmakers to reach a deal on both spending and pandemic relief.

Positive developments related to the COVID-19 vaccine have in recent weeks helped investors look past the surge in infections and anticipate an economic rebound next year.

Analysts now expect investor attention to gradually shift from vaccine approvals to their global distribution and any possible side effects that may occur.

Boeing Co dipped after company data showed the planemaker lost another 63 orders for its newly ungrounded 737 MAX jet in November.

After spending the early part of the session in negative territory, Tesla Inc reversed course and moved higher after the electric-car maker unveiled a $US5 billion capital raise, its second such move in three months.