Stocks, Coronavirus Vaccine and National Security Law

It was a good day for the stocks across the Asia Pacific. Stocks benefited from the positive news regarding the development of a potential coronavirus vaccine.

Interestingly, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led gains among the region’s major markets. Hang Seng index added 2.85% to close at 25,124.19. On Wednesday, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was closed for a holiday. On July 2, shares of the tech giant Tencent jumped 3.99%. At the same time, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing soared 6.06%.

Investors are closely monitoring the situation. Notably, China’s controversial national security law went into effect and the police forces in Hong Kong already arrested 10 people for alleged national security law breaches.

Mainland Chinese stocks also saw gains on the day as the Shanghai Composite added 2.13% to around 3,090.57. In the meantime, the Shenzhen Component gained 1.292% to about 12,269.49.

Moreover, South Korea’s Kospi index advanced 1.36% to close at 2,135.37.

Japanese stocks also strengthened their positions on July 2. The Nikkei 225 added 0.11% to close at 22,145.96. Moreover, the Topix index gained 0.27% to finish its trading day at 1,542.76.

Interestingly, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.66% to close at 6,032.70. Based on the information provided by the country’s bureau of statistics, the trade surplus for May came in at 8.025 billion Australian dollars ($5.55 billion) on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Stocks in Asia and coronavirus vaccine

The coronavirus pandemic remains the topic of discussion for several months. It is hard to say for how long the coronavirus pandemic would continue to affect the global economy. The number of coronavirus cases continues to rise and people should follow the instructions to contain the virus.

Companies around the world are willing to create an effective vaccine as soon as possible. However, it won’t be easy to achieve this goal.