Asian shares mostly rise after Dow crests 30,000 points

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly rose Wednesday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 30,000 points for the first time despite an ongoing pandemic, as progress in development of coronavirus vaccines kept investors in a buying mood.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.5% to finish at 26,296.86. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6% to 6,683.30. South Korea's Kospi lost early gains to decline 0.6% to 2,601.54. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.2% to 26,636.98, while the Shanghai Composite dipped 1.2% to 3,362.33.

Jingyi Pan, senior market strategist at IG in Singapore, noted news that the transition of power in the U.S. to President-elect Joe Biden will finally begin, as well as his selection of former Fed chair Janet Yellen as treasury secretary, were encouraging traders.

“While the vaccine optimism had changed the outlook for Asia markets hoping for a quicker recovery, the formal transition for the Biden administration alongside former Fed chair Janet Yellen’s expected lead of the U.S. Treasury had only served as embellishments contributing to expectations for a more conducive environment for the recovery,” Pan said.

The Dow rose more than 450 points, or 1.5%, to cross the milestone. The S&P 500 index, which has a far greater impact on 401(k) accounts than the Dow, rose 1.6%, climbing to its own all-time high.

The gains extend a monthlong market rally driven by growing optimism that development of coronavirus vaccines and treatments will loosen the pandemic's stranglehold on the economy. They also mark a rapid climb for the Dow from its March 23 low of just under 18,600 during the worst of its early pandemic nosedive.

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