Taking its lead from Wall Street overnight, today the Australian share market managed to lift by a solid 1.8%, peaking at 2% in morning trade, due to rising hopes of a Covid-19 vaccine. The Australian sharemarket not only recorded its best gain in over two weeks, it also approached a 10-week high, and is on a three-day winning streak for the first time in two months.

Of course, having just concluded Phase One, the potential vaccine is in its very early stages of development and is now only just commencing Phase Two trials, so it’s important to bear in mind that excitement about this could quickly fade.

That said, the good news is that the volunteers who received biotech company Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine showed positive early results, and if future studies go well, a vaccine could conceivably become available in early 2021. So for now, that’s encouraging enough news for a public desperately searching for that elusive light at the end of the tunnel. Fingers crossed.

Rick Maggi