Asian Stock Market: Falls for second day on Delta virus variant fears

Asia-pacific indices extended losses on Tuesday on the resurgence of coronavirus cases.
Many countries impose fresh lockdown after rising cases, posing a threat to economic recovery.
Beijing and Canberra at loggerheads on trade dispute, WTO confirms.

Rekha Chauhan Independent Analyst

Asian stocks edge lower consecutively for the second session. Investors remain pessimistic and avoid riskier assets on concerns of a fresh coronavirus outbreak in the region.

Wall Street hit a new high on tech stock gains as financial stocks dipped.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.11% while hovering near recent highs.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.9% as tension escalates between China and Australia, the two biggest trade partners in the region. The WTO confirmed on Monday that Australia had filed a formal complaint about China’s import duties on its wine imports.

Kospi shed 0.5%, S&P ASX200 lost 0.5%, and Hong Kongs’ Hang Seng lost 1%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 0.1% after the domestic data showed that the unemployment rate rose 3% in May, the highest reading since December 2020.

It is worth noting that S&P 500 Futures were trading at 4,290, up 0.23% for the day.

The US dollar remains elevated despite mixed Fed officials' mixed reaction on inflation and interest rates outlook. A possible bipartisan infrastructure plan adds attractions to the greenback.

Author

Rekha Chauhan

Independent Analyst

Rekha Chauhan has been working as a content writer and research analyst in the forex and equity market domain for over two years.

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