FX.co ★ Asia-Pacific stocks perk up: major indexes are growing well

Asia-Pacific stock exchanges started the current trading week on a positive note. The major stock indexes are growing quite significantly amid reports that AstraZeneca will additionally increase the supply of its own vaccine against coronavirus.

According to the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca itself, it is ready to increase the supply of the drug against coronavirus infection to the European Union by another 30% during the first quarter of this year against the previously agreed amount. This equates to 9 million additional doses.

In addition to the vaccine, market participants are extremely interested in the fate of the negotiation process to decide on an expanded financial incentive program in the United States of America. Recall that the current US President Joe Biden has put forward a proposal to ratify a package of financial assistance totaling $1.9 trillion. However, for two weeks now no official decision has been made on this matter. Moreover, this measure has more opponents than supporters. In particular, a group of Republican senators is already openly insisting on a reduction in the amount of funding, which Biden is unlikely to do. Thus, market participants have less hope that the program will eventually be adopted.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose 1.44%. The news on statistics added to the positive here. The level of the indicator of business activity in the country's industrial sector for the first month of 2021 slightly increased and reached the level of 49.8 points, which was estimated at 49.7 points. However, compared to December 2020, some decline was still recorded, since then the index was 50 points, which was its maximum value over the past almost one and a half years.

China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.47%. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index followed suit and jumped even higher - 2.31%. At the same time, not too positive statistics could not lead the indicators astray.

In particular, the index in the processing industry sector of China for the first month of 2021 became significantly lower and reached 51.3 points compared to the previous 51.9 points. Moreover, this value has become the minimum over the past few months. And given that the holidays are ahead on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, the situation may become even worse. Meanwhile, analysts' preliminary forecasts were slightly better than real data: a fall was expected to no more than 51.5 points.

South Korea's KOSPI index increased quite significantly by 2.49%. The statistics here are more positive than in China. South Korea's industrial index managed to get up to 53.2 points, which was previously at 52.9 points.

Thus, the new indicator has become the maximum over the past ten years, which could not but delight investors. It is becoming clear that the country's economy is in an active phase of recovery after the crisis that arose against the background of the coronavirus pandemic.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.84%. The growth was boosted by news about positive dynamics in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past two weeks, there have been no new residents infected with the infection in the state. Thus, the number of patients is controlled, which indicates the success of the policy pursued by the state authorities.