Markets over in Asia jumped over to positive territory starting the week despite the continuing rise in coronavirus cases.
In a July 4 situation report from the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of new COVID-19 cases worldwide has reached a record high of 212,326 cases in a single day beating the previous record of about 190,566 cases last June 28, per NBC News.
But that didn’t stop the markets from growing as the Shanghai composite had a good start for Monday as it rose nearly 6% creating a new 52-week high.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also saw robust gains and rose 3.81% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 1.83% and South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.65%.
On the other hand, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.71% being the only major exchange in the Asia Pacific to dive into negative territory to start the week.
Shanghai’s rally was driven by a “bull sentiment”
Management director at Amber Hill Capital Jackson Wong said that “bull sentiment” in mainland Chinese shares was “driving the markets” in an email exchange with CNBC.
He further added that the “sudden surge” in trading volume also raised investor expectations that “another bull run is coming.” Wong also suggested that China may have been less affected by the coronavirus lately as another market factor.
Hao Hong of BOCOM International also told CNBC that the Shanghai composite has “broken through” its 850-day long-term moving average.
In addition, China has also accused the U.S. of “ulterior motives” in the South China Sea as per CNBC’s Squawk Box.
Countries with alarming record highs in cases
It seems that the markets are not affected negatively by the rise of coronavirus cases globally.
Over in the U.S., the Dow futures are also showing signs of strength as it rose almost 400 points continuing its recovery from the last week. It is also currently the country with the most number of COVID-19 cases globally hitting almost 3 million, based on the data from Johns Hopkins University.
Last week, Starwood Capital founder Barry Sternlicht warned that the country’s downward economic pains could continue if businesses cannot return to their regular operations. California just recently closed their indoor businesses after a recent spike in cases.
Brazil is currently second with the most number of COVID-19 cases having almost 1.5 million confirmed cases with 48,105 new cases in the last 24 hours as per the WHO report.
In Southeast Asia, the Philippines also reported its biggest single-day jump in new coronavirus cases adding 2,434 confirmed infections as per Reuters.
As the markets show optimism despite the ongoing pandemic, investors are observing if the markets “bull sentiment” will sustain despite the circumstances.
Featured image courtesy of Zvi Leve/Flickr