SINGAPORE – Asia Pacific stocks were lower in trading Tuesday as concerns over a spike in coronavirus in several countries clouded optimism about vaccine rollout in the US
Mainland China markets were lower in early trading: the Shanghai Composite was down 0.31% while the Shenzhen component was down 0.212%. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was slightly lower.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.16% while the Topix index was down 0.23%. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.24%.
Australian stocks were also lower, with the S&P / ASX 200 falling 0.26%. Minutes of the December Reserve Bank of Australia meeting released Tuesday warned of the possibility of a “prolonged period of high unemployment” as it would take some time for production to reach prepandemic levels.
“The high unemployment rate and overcapacity across the economy are likely to result in subdued wage growth and inflation in the coming years. In this environment, the Board saw addressing the high unemployment rate as a major national priority,” the minutes read.
MSCI’s broadest index for stocks in the Asia-Pacific region outside of Japan was down 0.1%.
A range of Chinese economic data is expected to be released around 10:00 a.m. HK / SIN Tuesday, including industrial production and retail sales for November.
On Wall Street overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 184.82 points lower at 29,861.55. The S&P 500 was down 0.44% to end its trading day at 3,647.49. The Nasdaq Composite, on the other hand, rose 0.5% to close at 12,440.04.
According to the Johns Hopkins University, the US coronavirus death toll was over 300,000, 100,000 percent higher than any other country in the world, when Americans received some of the first shots of Pfizer’s vaccine. The Mayor of New York City warned that the city could soon see a “complete shutdown”.
Elsewhere, London will be placed in the toughest level of coronavirus restrictions in England starting Wednesday morning at midnight.
Currencies and oil
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of its competitors, was 90.641 after a previous rebound from below 90.6.
The Japanese yen was trading at 104.04 the dollar after seeing below 103.8 against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.754 after trading above $ 0.756 yesterday.
Oil prices were lower on the morning of trading hours in Asia and Brent crude oil futures were down 0.36% to $ 50.11 a barrel. The US crude oil futures fell 0.38% to $ 46.81 a barrel.
What’s happening?
- China: Fixed Investment, Industrial Production, November Retail Data at 10:00 AM HK / SIN
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