SINGAPORE – Asia-Pacific stocks fell in trading on Wednesday morning as rising coronavirus cases in countries such as India have an impact on the economic outlook and investor sentiment.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.7% in morning trades, while the Topix index fell 2%. Kospi in 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%. Australian retail sales rose 1.4% in March from February, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the country’s Statistics Bureau. This was higher than expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1% increase.
The largest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific equities outside Japan traded 0.94% lower.
The reopening of parts such as airlines decreased, with Qantas Airways shares in Australia decreasing by 2%, while Japan Airlines and ANA Holdings in Japan decreased by 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 by 0.59%.
The losses came after their counterparts collapsed overnight. Shares of United Airlines fell more than 8% after the company reported a fifth consecutive quarterly loss. CEO Scott Kirby said it is not yet clear when international and business travel will recover.
Markets in India are closed on Wednesday for the holidays. The coronavirus situation in the country remains serious, with 259,170 new infections registered daily on Tuesday. The World Health Organization warned on Friday that the overall rate of Covid infection is approaching the highest level ever.
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. Nasdaq Composite fell 0.92% to 13,786.27.
Coins and oil
The US dollar index, which tracks the dollar against its peers, was at 91,201, after a drop of over 91.6 earlier this week.
The Japanese yen traded at 107.96 per dollar, still stronger than levels above 109.2 against the green dollar seen last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7728, lower than the levels above $ 0.777 seen yesterday.
Oil prices fell in the morning trading hours in Asia, with international references to Brent crude futures falling 0.33% to $ 66.35 a barrel. US crude futures fell 0.46% to $ 62.38 a barrel.