Asian Stocks Down Over Cooling Vaccine Enthusiasm

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Investing.com – Asian stocks were mostly down on Thursday morning, with a global stocks rally coming to a halt as optimism over the quick availability of a COVID-19 vaccine wanes.

The positive results from Pfizer Inc’s (NYSE:PFE) vaccine candidate BNT-162b2 that it is co-developing with BioNTech (F:22UAy), announced earlier in the week, sent global stocks soaring alongside hopes for a cure and subsequent economic recovery. However, investors took stock of the logistic challenges of mass-producing and transporting the vaccine, the increasing number of global COVID-19 cases and indications of an overheated equities market.

The 10% surge seen in global equities this month could be at risk as the Northern Hemisphere enters the winter season and the risk of an explosion of cases due to the colder weather. There are worries that more countries could implement tougher measures to curb the virus’ spread, with countries such as France, Germany, the U.K. and several U.S. states already re-implementing lockdowns.

“In the near term, the resurgence of the virus is beginning to create new worries … it looks like this will end up being a W-shaped recovery,” Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) Inc chief economist Torsten Slok told Bloomberg.

However, countering the gloom was positive news from the developers of other COVID-19 vaccine candidates. Russia said on Wednesday that its Sputnik V vaccine candidate showed 92% efficacy, with 20 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported among the volunteers who took part in the placebo-controlled phase III trial. In the U.S., Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) said on the same day that the accumulation of data for a first analysis of its vaccine mRNA-1273 is complete and expects to have an announcement on the vaccine’s efficacy by the end of the month.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged down 0.16% by 11:28 PM ET (3:28 AM GMT). The National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC)’s Wednesday resolution disqualifying any lawmakers in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council deemed insufficiently patriotic, without going through the city’s courts, increased U.S.-China tensions. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien warned that the U.S. would “continue to utilize all the powers granted” under various laws and “identify and sanction those responsible for extinguishing Hong Kong’s freedom,” after four opposition legislators were immediately de-seated and the remaining fifteen opposition legislators resigned en-masse via a joint press briefing later in the day.

China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.23% while the ShenzhenComponent was up 0.76%. Chinese tech stocks are still digesting a $290 billion wipeout following the State Administration for Market Regulation’s issuance on Tuesday of draft regulations aimed at rooting out monopolistic practices in the internet industry.

Meanwhile, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) Group Holding (HK:9988) posted sales of CNY498.2 billion ($75.25 billion) by the end of the Wednesday for its annual Singles’ Day shopping extravaganza, surpassing the previous year’s $38 billion total. The company smashed the previous year’s total despite the COVID-10 pandemic and the gloom over the draft regulations coming a day before the event.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.46% while South Korea’s KOSPI was down 0.37%.

In Australia, the ASX 200 fell 0.54%.

Elsewhere, central bankers including European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak at the online “Central Banks in a Shifting World” forum later in the day. Central bankers and finance ministers from the Group of 20 will also convene on Friday for an extraordinary meeting to discuss measures to help nations struggling to repay their debts.

The U.S. will also release data, including October’s Consumer Price Index, later in the day.