Asian shares inch up on strong US stats, focus on impacts of virus

Asian stocks advanced on Thursday, just a day after US S&P 500 reached all time-high from strong US figures, while markets remained cautious on persisting effect of coronavirus contagion.

Japanese Nikkei clocked in 1.63% while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares acquired 0.39%.

S&P 500 .SPX inched up 1.13% last Wednesday, ending its session to 3,334.69 record. Nasdaq Composite .IXIC advanced with 0.43% closing its Wednesday session to a positive record of 9,508.68.

According to ADP National Employment Report, jobs increased to 291,000 postings in private payrolls this January, with an all-time high record in May 2015. In line with this, another record disclosed that US services sector recuperated from inactivity last January. Boosts from both sectors indicated that the economy could possibly tread a moderate pacing even if there is a slump in consumer purchases.

Market participants were hyped up by unconfirmed headlines about vaccine for novel coronavirus which became the primary boost for the overall performance of indexes.