Asian stocks stumbled on Monday and oil prices slipped as fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections in Beijing sent investors scurrying for safe-havens while underwhelming data from China further weighed on sentiment.
Asian stocks
- MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.3% with Australian shares off 0.1%.
- South Korea easing 0.3%. Japan’s Nikkei faltered 0.7%.
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed nearly 0.4% to 5,826.80.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 0.6% to 24,157.08.
- The Shanghai Composite was little changed at 2,919.41.
- Chinese shares opened in the red with the blue-chip CSI300 index down 0.1%.
Currency Markets
The Chinese yuan dipped in offshore trade to 7.0877 per dollar while the risk-sensitive currencies of Australia and New Zealand were also sold off. Both were last down 0.4% at $0.6855 and $0.6424,
Commodities
- Brent crude was last down 2.25% at $37.86 a barrel.
- U.S. crude fell 3.09% to $35.14.
- Gold rose 0.2% to $1,732.2 an ounce on safe haven demand.