Asian stock markets close Thursday with gains

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) – Almost all major stock markets in Asia posted positive figures on Thursday.

Investors seemed optimistic after drugmakers BioNTech and Pfizer announced a day earlier that three doses of their COVID-19 vaccine have been found to neutralize the omicron variant of coronavirus.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, rose by 5.61 points, or 0.15%, to close at nearly 3,806 points.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, climbed by 257.99 points, or 1.08%, to 24,254.

China’s Shanghai stock exchange gained 35.47 points, or 0.98%, to 3,673 points, while the Singapore index rose by 14.90 points, or 0.48%, to 3,144 points.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock exchange was the only index to register a decline, losing 135.15 points, or 0.47%, to slip to 28,725.