BANGKOK – Asian stocks were lower on Monday as investors became wary of the recent increase in coronavirus cases in many places, while the vaccination effort is barely progressing.
In Monday’s early trading, the Nikkei has 225 NIK,
in Tokyo lost 0.5% and South Korea’s Kospi 180721,
by 0.1% higher. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index HSI,
fell 1% and the Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP,
it sank 0.8%. Australia’s S & P / ASX 200 XJO,
0.5% given up. Shares rose in Y9999 in Taiwan,
but falls in Singapore STI,
and Indonesia JAKIDX,
Shares in South Korea’s SK Innovation Co. 096770,
jumped 14% after reaching a settlement in a trade dispute with rival LG Energy Solution. The companies have pledged to work together to strengthen the U.S. battery supply chain, and to continue plans to manufacture batteries in Georgia in what President Joe Biden’s “wins for American workers and the U.S. auto industry.” mentioned.
The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba part 9988,
was 6% higher after the company said it was fined $ 2.8 billion for competitive behavior. The punishment was lower than feared, as the ruling Communist Party tightened control over fast-growing technology industries.
The declines in Asia followed a strong end last week on Wall Street, where the rise in technology and healthcare stocks drove the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average to a new record high.
A moderate bond yield has helped restore confidence that the Federal Reserve will soon move to raise interest rates to keep inflation in check as the economy recovers from the shocks of the pandemic.
But in Asia, a revival of infections is undermining confidence in the trajectory.
China’s top disease control official said over the weekend that the effectiveness of Chinese vaccines against coronavirus was low and that the government was considering mixing it up to boost it. This was a rare recognition and it comes as the country continues to break out of the virus first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
Japan is struggling to control infections as it prepares to host the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Thai health officials warn that the daily rate of new infections could reach 28,000 if no urgent measures are taken to counter the country’s worst outbreak so far.
“The explosion of vaccines remains slow in Asia, but more worrying is a renewed decline in cases of viruses, with second waves taking hold in India, the Philippines and now Thailand,” Stephen Innes of Axi said in a report. It ‘remains bad the global travel prospects’, he said.
On Friday, the S&P 500 SPX,
rose 0.8% for its fourth record high this week and closed at 4 128.80. The Dow DJIA,
by 0.9% to 33,800.60, while the Nasdaq Composite COMP,
0.5% added, to 13,900.19.
The yield on the ten-year U.S. Treasury note, which affects interest rates on mortgages and other loans, was 1.65%. It ended at 1.66% on Friday and was up 1.75% last Monday.
In other trades, the US standard oil CLK21,
picked up 4 cents to $ 59.36 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 28 cents to $ 59.32 a barrel on Friday. Brent ru BRNM21,
the international standard, fetching 4 cents to $ 62.99 a barrel.
The US dollar USDJPY,
bought 109.54 Japanese yen, down 109.71 yen on Friday.