Asian Markets Mostly Lower On Virus Concerns

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday, ignoring the slightly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders remain spooked amid the continuing spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus in the region and in several countries as well as the strong resurgence of infection rates in the U.S. Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday.

Traders may also be reluctant to make any significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s upcoming Jackson Hole Symposium, which is expected to provide cues on the central bank’s tapering timeline.

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Thursday, giving up the gains of the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying just above the 7,500 level, ignoring the slightly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders remain spooked amid concerns about the worsening domestic coronavirus situation, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria.

NSW has reported 1029 new local cases of COVID-19 and three deaths on Wednesday, with Melbourne and Sydney, two of the largest cities, and more regional areas coming under tougher restrictions and lockdowns. Victoria recorded 80 new locally acquired cases, with active cases now totalling 600 across the state.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 28.40 points or 0.38 percent to 7,503.50, after hitting a low of 7,477.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 23.40 points or 0.30 percent to 7,786.20. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is gaining almost 1 percent. Fortescue Metals is flat and OZ Minerals is lower by almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are lower. Santos and Origin Energy are losing more than 1 percent each, while Woodside Petroleum is flat. Beach Energy is down almost 1 percent and Oil Search is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.4 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, WiseTech Global is losing 1.5 percent and Xero are down almost 1 percent, while Afterpay is lower by more than 1 percent and Appen is plunging more than 15 percent.

Artificial intelligence crowdsourcing platform Appen downgraded its underlying earnings guidance for the full year after profit for the first half halved and revenue declined 2 percent from last year.

Gold miners are lower. Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are losing almost 2 percent each, while Newcrest Mining is down more than 3 percent. Northern Star Resources is declining almost 3 percent and Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.4 percent.

In other news, Qantas reported a huge loss for the full year as COVID-19 outbreaks kept planes grounded and delayed the airline’s long recovery from the pandemic. However, the stock is up more than 3 percent.

Shares in Flight Centre are up almost 4 percent despite the travel agency group slumping to a loss due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but is optimistic about the 2021/22 year as vaccination programs gain traction.

Shares in A2 Milk are plunging almost 10 percent after the dairy business said it had commenced a strategic review of the business focused on finding new avenues for growth moving forward after its profits plunged 80 percent and weak outlook.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.726 on Thursday.

The Japanese stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 falling just below the 27,700 level, ignoring the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, as the unprecedented spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus continues to stifle economic activity in most of the cities in the country.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,693.42, down 31.38 points or 0.11 percent, after touching a high of 27,828.28 and hitting a low of 27,784.50 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is flat and Honda is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are adding more than 2 percent each.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging up 0.4 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is flat.

The major exporters are lower. Sony is losing more than 2 percent and Panasonic is down almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are edging down 0.2 percent each.

Among the other major gainers, Sumco is gaining almost 4 percent, while Tokyu, Marui Group, Kikkoman and ANA Holdings are adding more than 2 percent each.

Conversely, Oji Holdings and Seven & I Holdings are losing more than 3 percent each, while Shionogi & Co. and Seiko Epson are down almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the 110 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Indonesia are lower by between 0.5 and 0.7 percent each. Taiwan and Singapore are relatively flat. Malaysia is bucking the trend and is up 0.7 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Wednesday, extending recent uptrend amid continued optimism about growth and on hopes the Federal Reserve might not begin tapering its bond-buying program anytime soon. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq climbed to fresh record highs and the Dow closed up as well.

The Dow ended the session with a gain of 39.24 points or 0.11 percent at 35,405.40. The S&P 500, which advanced to 4,501.71, closed up by 9.96 points or 0.22 percent at 4,496.19, while the tech-laden Nasdaq settled with a gain of 22.06 points or 0.15 percent at 15,041.86, off a fresh intraday high of 15,059.43.

The major European markets also closed slightly higher on the day. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.34 percent and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.18 percent, while Germany’s DAX ended 0.28 percent down.

Crude oil prices settled higher on Wednesday, extending gains to a third straight day, after data showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, and fuel demand rose to the highest level since March 2020. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended up by $0.82 or about 1.2% at $68.36 a barrel.