This post was originally published on this site
Asian markets fell in early trading Friday, after Wall Street suffered its worst fall since March amid fears of a COVID-19 resurgence and longer economic recovery.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK, -1.52% slid 1.5% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, -1.00% dropped 1.2%. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -0.39% slipped 0.7% while the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, -0.24% declined 0.6%. South Korea’s Kospi 180721, -2.42% fell 2.8%, and benchmark indexes in Taiwan Y9999, -1.19% , Singapore STI, -1.72% , Malaysia FBMKLCI, -1.49% and Indonesia JAKIDX, -1.13% all retreated. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, -1.62% dropped 2%.
In Tokyo, Sony 6758, -1.46% fell despite positive first impressions for its upcoming PlayStation 5 videogame console and a preview of handful of new games. Oil stocks such as CNOOC 883, -4.96% and PetroChina 857, -2.92% dropped in Hong Kong, as the price of crude continued to fall. In Sydney, BHP BHP, -1.76% fell after reports that it will destroy dozens of Aboriginal sites, some 15,000 years old, to expand a mine in Western Australia.
The number of U.S. coronavirus cases topped 2 million Thursday, with rising cases in 21 states as the country moves to reopen. A surge in cases in California, Texas and Florida, among other places, is raising worries of a second wave of COVID-19. Or more precisely, a first wave that has not subsided as much as officials first thought.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told CNBC that shutting the economy for a second time is not a viable option, a day after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell was cautious in his outlook, saying the U.S. economy faces a “long road” to recovery, with significant unemployment lingering into next year.
President Donald Trump on Thursday again criticized the central bank, tweeting: “The Federal Reserve is wrong so often. I see the numbers also, and do MUCH better than they do. We will have a very good Third Quarter, a great Fourth Quarter, and one of our best ever years in 2021.”
U.S. stocks on Thursday had their worst day since March, with the Dow Jones Industrial DJIA, -6.89% tumbling 1,861.82 points, or 6.9%, to 25,128.17, the S&P 500 SPX, -5.89% sank 188.04 points, or 5.9%, to finish at 3,002.10, and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -5.26% closed down about 527.62 points, or 5.3%, at 9,492.73, one day after charting a record above 10,000.
“I do not think you could have imagined a worse setup for risk if you would have drawn it up in a ‘how-to trade an overcooked stock market manual 101,’” wrote Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at AxiCorp, in a note Thursday night. “But everyone to a tee knew this market was overcooked and were waiting for the ball to drop. . . . Bizarrely and I can not believe I am going to type this after an eye-watering 230-point drop-top to bottom on the SPX this week. At the moment, until their indisputable evidence of secondary outbreak in NY, the market moves still seem more about profit-taking than a new period of risk-off.”
Benchmark U.S. crude oil for July delivery CLN20, -2.17% continued to fall, hitting $35.45 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude oil for August delivery BRNQ20, -1.76% , the global benchmark, fell to $37.78 a barrel.
In currency dealings, the U.S. dollar USDJPY, -0.02% slipped slightly to 106.84 Japanese yen.
