SINGAPORE – Shares in Asia-Pacific fell in trading on Wednesday morning as rising coronavirus cases in countries like India weigh on economic outlook and investor sentiment.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.7% in the morning trade, while the Topix index fell 2%. Kospi, of South Korea, lost 1.11%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.42%. Shares in mainland China also traded in negative territory, as the Shanghai composite fell 0.31%, while the Shenzhen component fell 0.315%.
Shares in Australia also declined as the S & P / ASX 200 fell 1.3%. Australia’s retail sales rose 1.4% in March from February, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the country’s Statistics Office. This was higher than the expectations of a Reuters poll for a 1% gain.
MSCI’s broader Asia-Pacific stock index outside of Japan traded 0.94% lower.
Reopening works such as airlines fell, with Qantas Airways shares in Australia falling 2%, while Japan Airlines and ANA Holdings in Japan fell 0.89% and 1.71%, respectively. . In Hong Kong, shares of China Eastern Airlines fell 1.38% and Cathay Pacific fell 1.55%. Shares of Singapore Airlines also fell 0.59%.
The losses came after his counterparts fell overnight in the state. Shares of United Airlines fell more than 8% after the company reported a fifth consecutive quarterly loss. CEO Scott Kirby said it is still unclear when international and business travel will recover.
Markets in India are closed on Wednesday for holidays. The coronavirus situation in the country remains serious, with 259,170 new daily infections recorded on Tuesday. The World Health Organization warned on Friday that the global rate of Covid infection is approaching the highest level in history.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 256.33 points to 33,821.30, while the S&P 500 fell 0.68% to 4,134.94. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.92% to 13,786.27.
Coins and oils
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against its peers, stood at 91,201 after falling above 91.6 earlier this week.
The Japanese yen was trading at 107.96 per dollar, even stronger than levels above 109.2 against the green dollar seen last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7728, below the levels above the $ 0.777 seen yesterday.
Oil prices fell on the morning of business hours in Asia, and international benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.33% to $ 66.35 a barrel. US crude oil futures fell 0.46% to $ 62.38 a barrel.