GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks climb on vaccine, U.S. stimulus optimism

* MSCI ex-Japan jumps after 2 days of losses, Nikkei rises
* S&P 500 futures slip
* U.S. dollar pauses after Tuesday's slide
* Federal Reserve policy announcement due
* Asia stock markets this year: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

By Swati Pandey
SYDNEY, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on Wednesday as
hopes of effective coronavirus vaccines and the growing prospect
of more U.S. fiscal stimulus cheered investors ahead of the
Christmas holiday season.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of
Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS added 0.6% after two straight days of
losses.
The index, hovering near record highs, is up 3.3% so far in
December and is on track for its best yearly performance since
2017 thanks to generous government and central bank stimulus
around the world.
Australian and New Zealand shares .AXJO .NZ50 jumped
over 1% each while South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 and Japan's
Nikkei .N225 were each up about 0.3%.
Chinese shares started firm with the blue-chip CSI 300 index
.CSI300 adding 0.25%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index .HSI
climbed 0.8%.
"We expect many emerging market economies to continue to
show positive momentum in 2021 led by Asia," TD Securities wrote
in a note, adding that, on aggregate, they would recover lost
output from 2020.
"China is likely to see a more rapid convergence to
pre-COVID GDP levels."
E-mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 were a tad weaker in
early Asian trading, off 0.1%.
Overnight, U.S. and European stocks, gold, oil and U.S.
Treasury yields were buoyant. The Dow .DJI rose 1.1% while the
S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq .IXIC climbed 1.3% each. .N
Economically sensitive U.S. stock sectors, including
consumer discretionary .SPLRCD and materials .SPLRCM , led
gains as investors viewed a recent spike in coronavirus
infections and deaths, and a grim November jobs report, as
drivers of a likely COVID-19 relief and stimulus bill.
Optimism over a $1.4 trillion U.S. spending package
increased after House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi
invited other top congressional leaders to meet late on Tuesday
to hammer out a deal to be enacted this week.
Progress on the roll-out of vaccines continued after Moderna
Inc's COVID-19 vaccine appeared set for regulatory authorization
this week.
The U.S. also expanded its roll-out of the newly approved
vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. PFE.N and BioNTech SE
BNTX.O . Markets will now look to the U.S. Federal Reserve for new
projections on whether the economy will suffer a double-dip
recession or is on the cusp of a vaccine-inspired boom.
The central bank is to release a statement later in the day,
with analysts expecting some guidance on when and how the Fed
might change its bond purchases. "There is significant chance, especially if (the) bond
market becomes temporarily unruly, that the Fed will adopt Yield
Curve Control (YCC) pegging three-year maturities to about 0.3%
in 2021," John Vail, chief global strategist for Nikko Asset
Management wrote in a note.
"The ECB is also shifting to a YCC regime, with flexible QE
purchases conducted to informally maintain the yield curve to
its liking, hopefully avoiding a forced massive injection of new
funds."
Optimism for a trade deal on Brexit also boosted stocks,
while contributing to a weaker dollar against the British pound
and the euro.
The dollar JPY= was last at 103.67 against the Japanese
yen, hovering near a recent 1-1/2 month trough. It is down 4.5%
this year so far.
Against the euro EUR= , the greenback was flat at $1.2147
after two straight days of losses while it was down 0.2% at
$1.3434 on sterling GBP= .
In commodities, gold prices XAU= eased a bit to $1,851.7
an ounce. GOL/
Gold, regarded as a hedge against inflation and currency
debasement, has risen over 22% so far this year amid
unprecedented government stimulus globally.
Brent crude LCOc1 and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude
CLc1 slipped 9 cents each to $50.67 and $47.54 a barrel
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Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country Wolrd Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
Asia stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
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