PARIS: Global stock markets moved gingerly on Friday, with Europe posting modest gains while Wall Street dipped as traders weighed coronavirus vaccine hopes against lockdowns and the lack of a new US stimulus deal.

In Europe, both Frank­furt and Paris ended the day with a gain of 0.4 per cent, while London added 0.3pc.

But in late morning trading in New York, the Dow was down 0.3pc and the S&P 500 slid 0.2pc. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Compo­site managed a 0.1pc gain.

“The small gains in Europe and modest losses in the US sum up an indecisive session for stock markets, and indeed, apart from the initial huge rally on Nov 9, an indecisive three-week period,” said Chris Beau­champ, chief market analyst at online trading firm IG.

The Nov 9 rally was triggered by the announcement that the vaccine developed by Germany’s BioNTech and US giant Pfizer was 90pc effective according to early trial results.

It has said the effectiveness is 95pc, and announced on Friday it is preparing to file an emergency request for authorisation to roll it out and help defeat a disease that has killed almost 1.4m people and infected close to 57m.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2020