Asian Stock Market: Depressed amid thin liquidity, mixed virus/vaccine updates

Asian equities remain sluggish for the second day as China’s Lunar New Year holidays allows market players to rethink their previous bullish bets. The mood also sours amid fresh coronavirus (COVID-19) challenges for Japan and Australia as well as on-going US-China tension.

Against this backdrop, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan stabilizes around the record top marked during the week whereas Japan’s Nikkei 225 drops on extended covid-led emergencies in 10 regions. In doing so, Japanese markets failed to cheer their return from one-day off as well as the anticipated increase in the COVID-19 vaccines.

That said, Australia’s Victoria also enters a five-day lockdown, coupled with strict border rules, as virus variant spreads in the Pacific major. The same weigh on the ASX 200, down 0.50% by press time of early Friday.

New Zealand’s NZX 50 couldn’t benefit from Business NZ PMI and Food Price Index data for January. Kiwi bears also defy news of the early vaccine deliveries amid fears of no more rate cuts and the early normalization of monetary policy due to improving fundamentals at home.

Elsewhere markets in South Korea, Hong Kong and Indonesia are off while increasing odds of US President Joe Biden’s covid relief package to finalize in February join the US leader’s push for jabs to battle the bears amid a light calendar.

Against this backdrop, S&P 500 Futures print mild losses whereas the US 10-year Treasury yields struggle to keep the previous day’s upside momentum. Further, oil and gold remain pressured whereas the US dollar index (DXY) snaps a five-day downtrend.

Moving on, global markets may remain jittery amid a lack of major data/events. However, optimism concerning US stimulus and global coronavirus vaccinations may challenge the bears.