Asian Stocks Down Amid Lingering COVID-19 Fears

Investing.com –– Asian stock markets were mostly down on Thursday as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to bring economies and governments to their knees.

Down Under, the  lost its gains from the last session as it slid 2.29% by 10:14 PM ET (3:14 AM GMT).

Japan’s  lost 0.74% whilst neighboring South Korea’s  gained a modest 0.74%.

In Greater China, Hong Kong’s  was down by 0.56%. China’s  was up 0.19% while the  was down 0.16%.

Overnight, U.S. President Donald Trump warned Americans for “a hell of a bad two weeks” as projections show that COVID-19 could kill more Americans than servicemen killed during recent conflicts such as World War One, the Korean War or the Vietnam war.

The World Health Organization reported 163,199 cases in the United States, and over 800,000 cases globally as of April 1.

“The incremental news on the virus in the last 24 to 48 hours has been disappointing,” John Porter, a fund manager at Mellon Investments, said in a  Bloomberg TV interview.

“The global economy has hit a wall, there’s a tremendous amount of uncertainty, and that’s contributing to the volatility in the markets and the downward trajectory we’ve seen the last few days,” he added.