GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares mixed, U.S. dollar near 2-1/2 year lows

By Swati Pandey
SYDNEY, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Asian shares were mixed on
Thursday after a choppy day of Wall Street trade, thanks in part
to a disappointing U.S. jobs report, while the greenback
languished near 2-1/2 year lows on growing optimism of a
coronavirus vaccine.
Britain became the first Western country to approve a
COVID-19 vaccine, with 800,000 doses of the Pfizer PFE.N and
BioNTech 22UAy.DE vaccine available for those at high risk
starting next week. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is holding its
advisory committee meeting next week, while New York Governor
Andrew Cuomo has said the state's first delivery, enough for
170,000 residents, is expected on Dec. 15.
Hopes that the pandemic, which has so far killed nearly 1.5
million globally, will finally be brought to its knees sparked a
risk-on rally in currency markets with Australian and New
Zealand dollars advancing against their U.S. counterpart.
AUD=D3 NZD=D3
The dollar index slipped to 2 1/2-year low of 90.987 =USD
on Wednesday and last stood at 91.048. FRX/
"Currency investors are taking on more risk following the
latest vaccine breakthroughs, options show," Morgan Stanley said
in a note.
Hopes of a fiscal support package in the United States also
boosted investor optimism. But share traders were less enthused.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of
Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS were barely changed following two straight
days of gains.
Japan's Nikkei was 0.2% weaker while South Korea's KOSPI
.KS11 was flat and Australia's benchmark index .AXJO was
slightly higher. Chinese shares opened a tad lower, with the
blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 off 0.03%.
“Markets are quite likely to muddle through from here,” said
Michael Frazis, portfolio manager at Frazis Capital Partners in
Sydney.
“The vaccine is increasingly priced in. A couple of months
ago, no one knew how deep coronavirus would be, or what the
outcome of the election was. Now both sources of uncertainty
have been removed.”
Worries that the U.S. economy may be decelerating weighed on
shares after U.S. private payrolls showed fewer jobs than
expected were added in November as growing new COVID-19
infections led to additional business restrictions. Overnight, Wall Street swung between red and green
territories but eventually ended a tad firmer. The Dow Jones
.DJI and the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.2% each while the
tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC was barely moved.
In currencies, the risk-sensitive Aussie hit a more than
two-year high of $0.7420 overnight and was last at $0.7399. Its
kiwi cousin NZD=D3 was last at $0.7062, hovering near the
highest since May 2018.
The euro fetched $1.2113 EUR= , having reached its loftiest
level since late April 2018 in the previous day's trade.
In commodities, oil prices slipped on Thursday after rising
overnight on COVID-19 vaccine hopes and expectations producing
countries would keep limits on their output. Brent crude LCOc1 was down 13 cents at $48.11 a barrel
while U.S. light crude CLc1 eased 15 cents to $45.13.
Gold was slightly weaker at $1,827 an ounce. XAU=

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>