Asia, Europe Markets Rise As Investors Look Beyond COVID-19 Concerns

All major indices across Asia and Europe are higher on Wednesday as the concerns of new COVID-19 strains take a backseat.

U.S. indices are pointing to a positive open today with the Dow futures up by 0.14% and the S&P 500 futures up 0.20%. WTI crude futures are down 0.87% to $46.61, while gold futures are higher by 0.13% to $1,872.70. Ten-year Treasury yield is unchanged at 0.918%, and the VIX is down 1.45% to 25.40.

Asia: Japan's Nikkei 225 closed higher by 0.33% after the nation's core CPI fell 0.1% year-over-year and November coincident indicator increased 1% month-over-month. The corporate services price index data is due later today.

China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.76% on Wednesday after China's central bank said it would avoid sudden policy tightening in 2021. Consumer, technology, and industrial stocks led the index higher.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed higher by 0.73% as it tracked China's move.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.66%, ending its three-day losing streak as New South Wales eased curbs in preparation for Christmas. The country's private-sector credit grew 0.1% MoM in November.

South Korea's KOSPI closed higher by 0.96%, its biggest daily gain in two weeks. LG Electronics Ltd surged as much as 30% in South Korea after its joint venture EV components deal with Magna International Inc MGA.

India's Nifty 50 index is trading higher by 0.65%.

Europe: Euro Stoxx 50 has gained 0.52% at press time on top of a 1.42% gain on Tuesday. Investors cheered the reports that a Brexit deal could be struck on Wednesday.

London's FTSE 100 is down 0.23% at publication time. The United Kingdom steel production grew to 702,000 metric tons in November.

Germany's DAX advanced 0.66% after the import price index rose 0.5% MoM and fell 3.8% YoY, beating the consensus on both counts. 

France's CAC 40 is up 0.53% after November's PPI grew 1.7% MoM.

Spain's IBEX 35 is up 0.67%. The nation's third-quarter GDP grew 16.4% QoQ but fell 9% YoY, missing the consensus slightly. Spain's PPI fell 2.8% YoY.

Forex Trading: U.S. Dollar Index futures have dipped 0.22% to 90.347. The dollar has weakened 0.19% against the Euro, 0.48% against the Sterling Pound, 0.18% against the Japanese Yen, and 0.08% against the Chinese Yuan.

For news coverage in Italian or Spanish, check out Benzinga Italia and Benzinga España.