Prof. Naseem Abidi
The race to deliver the jab to the world’s populations has so far been led by a handful of smaller nations, and now they’re outpacing some of the wealthiest countries in the eyes of traders too. The fastest Covid-19 vaccination rollouts globally, in Israel and the United Arab Emirates, are propelling their equities to the top of the world in 2021. Israel’s benchmark TA-35 stock index has gained 7.6% this year, outperforming both the S&P 500 and the Euro Stoxx Index. And the Dubai Financial Market General Index has climbed about 9.8%, all but reversing its 10% slump in 2020. Traders are rushing to price the global vaccine rollout and betting nations at the forefront will be the fastest to recover from the crisis, lifting their stocks, currencies and bond yields. The share of a country’s population that has been inoculated might be “the most important statistic to track over the next year,” according to strategists at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-24/leaders-of-vaccine-rollout-deliver-world-beating-market-gains?srnd=economics-vp