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Australia and Japan shares rise as Omicron fears abate

By Mensholong Lepcha

05:53, 8 December 2021

Stock market charts alongside the Australian flag
Stock markets in Australia and Japan extended gains as fears over Omicron eased – Photo: Shutterstock

Stock markets in Australia and Japan extended gains on Wednesday as fears over the Omicron Covid-19 variant eased.

Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the US President, told AFP that early feedback suggest that the Omicron variant “might even be less severe” than the Delta variant.

Fauci added results from lab experiments that test the effectiveness of available vaccines against the latest Covid-19 variant will be out in “next few days to a week”. However, Fauci warned that the Omicron variant was more transmissible than the Delta strain.

Energy stocks up

On Monday, Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed higher for the fourth straight day, up 1.4% to 7,417.70 points.

S&P/ASX 200 Energy index rose 1.5% on the back of a jump in oil prices. Woodside Petroleum gained over 2% on Wednesday after the company said it will invest AUD5bn ($3.6bn) in new energy markets by 2030.

DE40

16,403.60 Price
-0.180% 1D Chg, %
Long position overnight fee -0.0220%
Short position overnight fee -0.0002%
Overnight fee time 22:00 (UTC)
Spread 1.5

US500

4,552.40 Price
-0.940% 1D Chg, %
Long position overnight fee -0.0262%
Short position overnight fee 0.0040%
Overnight fee time 22:00 (UTC)
Spread 0.7

US30

36,104.80 Price
-0.410% 1D Chg, %
Long position overnight fee -0.0262%
Short position overnight fee 0.0040%
Overnight fee time 22:00 (UTC)
Spread 2.2

HK50

16,659.70 Price
-1.100% 1D Chg, %
Long position overnight fee -0.0261%
Short position overnight fee 0.0042%
Overnight fee time 22:00 (UTC)
Spread 5.0

S&P/ASX All Technology index and S&P/ASX 300 Metal & Mining gained over 2% each with buy now, pay later firm Afterpay and lithium miner Pilbara Minerals among top gainers, up 4.2% and 5.5%, respectively.

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Alibaba drags Hong Kong

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 1.3% to 28,829.50 on Wednesday. The benchmark index closed 1.9% higher on Tuesday.

Topix-17 Pharmaceutical was the top performing sectoral index on Wednesday posting a gain of 1.8%.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.1% by Wednesday afternoon with heavyweight Alibaba Group, down 5.5%, dragging the benchmark index the most.

Read more: Palladium passes gold in value as Asia use increases

Markets in this article

9988
Alibaba Group
70.9 USD
-1.2 -1.670%
AU200
Australia 200
7098.0 USD
-35 -0.490%
AU200
Australia 200
7098.0 USD
-35 -0.490%
AU200
Australia 200
7098.0 USD
-35 -0.490%
AU200
Australia 200
7098.0 USD
-35 -0.490%

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The difference between trading assets and CFDs
The main difference between CFD trading and trading assets, such as commodities and stocks, is that you don’t own the underlying asset when you trade on a CFD.
You can still benefit if the market moves in your favour, or make a loss if it moves against you. However, with traditional trading you enter a contract to exchange the legal ownership of the individual shares or the commodities for money, and you own this until you sell it again.
CFDs are leveraged products, which means that you only need to deposit a percentage of the full value of the CFD trade in order to open a position. But with traditional trading, you buy the assets for the full amount. In the UK, there is no stamp duty on CFD trading, but there is when you buy stocks, for example.
CFDs attract overnight costs to hold the trades (unless you use 1-1 leverage), which makes them more suited to short-term trading opportunities. Stocks and commodities are more normally bought and held for longer. You might also pay a broker commission or fees when buying and selling assets direct and you’d need somewhere to store them safely.
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