Asian markets close midweek positive

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - After fallings on Tuesday, Asian stock markets closed the midweek in the positive territory thanks to announcements that vaccines may protect people against the omicron variant.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, earned 48.77 points, or 1.32%, to close at around 3,731 points.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange was up 113.86 points, or 0.41%, to 27,935. The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, increased 183.66 points, or 0.78%, to 23,658.

China's Shanghai stock exchange rose by 13 points, or 0.36%, to 3,576 points, and the Indian Sensex benchmark rose by 619.92 points, or 1.09%, to close at 57,684 points.

The Singapore index earned 56.96 points, or 1.87%, to 3,098.

- European markets

Major European indices were also positive as of midday on Wednesday.

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, was up by 4.97 points, or 1.07%, to 467.93 as of 1100GMT.

London's FTSE 100 increased by 95.30 points, or 1.35%, to 7,154 points, and Germany's DAX index reached 15,335 points, down 235.32 points or 1.56%.

The French CAC 40 gained 91.01 points, or 1.35%, to 6,812 points, while Italy's FTSE MIB posted a decline of 434.56 points, or 1.68%, to 26,248 points.

Spain's IBEX 35 also rose by 141.7 points, or 1.71%, to 8,446 points.