World shares stay high with U.S. stimulus hopes

Asian shares touched record highs on Friday (December 4) while European stocks also rose.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.78%, past its November 25 peak.

Tech sector gains led the way there,

Shares in two of the world's largest memory chipmakers - South Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix - rose to record highs due to a positive outlook for the sector.

Indian shares hit record highs.

They went up as the country's central bank upgraded its GDP target for the current fiscal year and kept interest rates steady.

Investor sentiment was also up due to signs a large U.S. economic stimulus package could soon be on the way.

A bipartisan, $908 billion coronavirus aid plan gained momentum in the U.S. Congress on Thursday (November 3) when conservative lawmakers expressed their support.

In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.2%, though Germany's DAX traded flat.

Shares in Germany's BioNtech slid 4.4%.

The company has developed a coronavirus vaccine with Pfizer, but the U.S. drugmaker said it been forced to cut its 2020 production target by half due to obstacles in the supply chain.

There was more positive data for industry, though.

German industrial orders rose more than expected on the month in October.

It raised hopes the manufacturing sector in Europe's biggest economy started the fourth quarter on a solid footing.

Energy stocks lifted London's blue-chip FTSE 100 to nine-months highs.

It comes after a compromise between OPEC members to continue some production cuts.