FX.co ★ Uncertainty reigns on European and Asian markets

Almost no significant movements were recorded in the Asia-Pacific stock exchanges on Tuesday. The dynamics of changes in the major stock indexes are extremely weak. Markets are still heavily affected by the difficult epidemiological situation around the coronavirus, the spread of which continues to gain momentum. In addition, the political situation in the United States of America risks turning into trouble, where a separate group of members of the House of Representatives from the Democratic Party intends to do everything necessary to impeach the outgoing US President Donald Trump. Market participants are especially closely watching the news about this event, as it can seriously harm the stock indicators.

Representatives of the Democratic Party are determined to remove Trump from the presidency even before the official termination of his powers. They are not deterred even by the fact that his leadership will last no more than ten days. In their opinion, he is the sole culprit of the recent unrest in Washington, for which he should be punished by premature removal from power. Recall that a group of Trump supporters broke into the Capitol Hill and caused riots, which lead to several deaths.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index was 0.025% higher. Market participants are concerned about the emergence of a new type of coronavirus infection, which is significantly different from the strain previously identified in South Africa and the United Kingdom. Four people who arrived from the Brazilian state of Amazonas were hospitalized with a new strain of COVID-19. While the situation is not clear and there is no more specific data on this type of coronavirus, however, the very fact that the disease is mutating at a rapid pace does not bode well.

China's Shanghai Composite index rose 1.42%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index supported the positive trend and went up by 0.69%.

South Korea's KOSPI index, by contrast, fell 1.1%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 20 index was also in the red by 0.27%.

European stock exchanges, on the other hand, recorded a multidirectional movement of the major stock indexes. Likewise, market participants are still affected by the coronavirus situation, as well as by the political instability in the United States.

Meanwhile, the possibility of expanding the financial stimulus program in the US with the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden evokes only positive emotions among investors.

In addition, support is also provided by news regarding the introduction of another coronavirus vaccine, which was developed by AstraZeneca in cooperation with the University of Oxford. An application for its use has already been submitted to the European Medicines Agency. It is assumed that the permission for use will be issued as soon as possible, which is good news for market participants.

The general index of large enterprises in the European region STOXX Europe 600 in the morning increased by 0.31% and reached 409.69 points.

The UK FTSE 100 Index declined 0.34%. Italy's FTSE MIB Index sank 0.32%. The German DAX index, on the contrary, showed positive dynamics and increased by 0.13%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index gained 0.32%. France's CAC 40 index remained unchanged.