Global stocks bounce back as Covid fears ease out

Beijing: Global stock markets advanced on Wednesday after Wall Street rebounded as investors tried to figure out how increasing coronavirus cases will affect the global economy.

London and Frankfurt opened higher while Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney advanced. Hong Kong and Seoul declined. Indian markets were closed for a holiday. The US market has gained ground in choppy trading despite uncertainty about the lingering impact of the virus on business activity and inflation.

Investor optimism has been buoyed by higher US corporate profits despite a rise in cases of the virus's more contagious delta variant. Overnight, Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index gained 1.5 per cent, recovering much of the previous day's loss.

Anderson Alves of ActivTrades said in a report that "defensive flows eased. However, gains are likely to be capped by lingering concerns over COVID-19's delta variant. A new wave of infections could delay the reopening of global economies."

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London surged 1.6 per cent to 6,989.90 while the DAX in Frankfurt rose 0.7 per cent to 15,322.69. The CAC in Paris jumped 1.4 per cent to 6,438.83. On Wall Street, futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.7 per cent.