Asian shares advance on optimism over vaccines, stimulus

Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Thursday, helped by progress toward rolling out coronavirus vaccines and talk of reaching a compromise on new help for the U.S. economy.

Shares rose in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul and Sydney but fell in Shanghai.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo edged up less than 0.1% to 26,809.37, its highest close in more than 29 years.

As countries prepare to begin vaccinating health care workers and others at high risk against the coronavirus, hopes are rising that the pandemic will be brought under control, allowing economies to recover.

The rollout of a vaccine in the U.S. could begin this month, if regulators give their approval. Drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech said they won permission for emergency use of their COVID-19 vaccine in Britain, which will be one of the first countries to begin vaccinating its population against the virus.

The vaccine is the world’s first coronavirus shot that’s backed by rigorous science and a major step toward eventually ending the pandemic and helping economies return to normal.

“The vaccine has been the big prize for risk markets," Stephen Innes of Axi said in a commentary. Vaccinations will reduce virus counts, resulting in a “collective demand lift for the world economy, and global geopolitical risk has also diminished after the U.S. presidential election. A much clearer view across the valley to economic recovery should mean more upside," he said.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.6% to 26,695.68 and South Korea's Kospi added 0.5% to 2,688.34. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 picked up 0.4% to 6,615.30.

The Shanghai Composite index shed 0.4% to 3,434.81. India's Sensex edged 0.2% higher and shares were mixed in Southeast Asia.

Overnight, the S&P 500 index rose 0.2% to an all-time high of...