Asian Markets Trading Mostly Lower

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, on sinking oil prices and lingering concerns about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which seems to be spreading faster than other strains now in 89 countries. The resultant imposition of strict restrictions to curb the spread of the infection might slow down the pace of global economic recovery. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday.

Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s top medical advisor, said that the U.S. is experiencing a resurgence of the delta variant and that omicron will become the dominant Covid-19 variant in the U.S. within a few weeks. The WHO warned over the weekend that omicron case numbers are doubling in 1.5 to 3 days.

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday, extending the weakness in the previous five sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 below the 7,300 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with weakness across most sectors, particularly materials, financial and energy stocks.

Concerns about the impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to weigh on the markets, with the fast spreading variant now present in 89 countries. Domestically, New South Wales reported a record 2,501 new cases on Sunday, with no deaths. Victoria also reported 1,302 new cases, but no deaths.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 24.00 points or 0.33 percent to 7,280.00, after hitting a low of 7,257.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 35.10 points or 0.46 percent to 7,591.10. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are losing more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources and OZ Minerals are declining more than 2 percent each. Fortescue Metals is adding almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are lower, with Woodside Petroleum losing more than 3.5 percent and Origin Energy down almost 1 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are slipping almost 5 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Appen is edging down 0.3 percent and WiseTech Global is losing almost 1 percent, while Afterpay and Xero are gaining almost 2 percent each.

Gold miners are lower. Newcrest Mining is losing almost 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is slipping almost 2 percent, while Resolute Mining and Gold Road Resources are declining more than 1 percent each. Evolution Mining is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 1 percent and ANZ Banking is declining almost 2 percent, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are down more than 1 percent each.

Shares in engineering and construction giant CIMIC are plunging more than 15 percent after analyst downgrade and wages problems, with multiple employees publicly claiming non-payment of wages, leave and end of service benefits or compensation.

Shares in Magellan Financial Group, which has resumed trading, are plummeting more than 28 percent after confirming it has lost one of its largest institutional investment mandates, UK-based St James’s Place. The mandate represents around 12 percent of Magellan’s annual revenue

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.712 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is sharply lower on Monday, extending the sharp losses in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 below the 28,100 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with weakness across most sectors amid continuing concerns about the impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus with fresh lockdowns in Europe and restrictions in some other countries.

The Bank of Japan’s decision to taper corporate debt purchases to pre-pandemic levels and to scale back some emergency funding schemes upon reaching the March 2022 deadline is also hurting market sentiment.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 28,055.28, down 490.40 points or 1.72 percent, after hitting a low of 28,015.05 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 2 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are losing more than 1 percent each. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing almost 2 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is declining more than 1 percent.

The major exporters are mixed, with Panasonic edging up 0.4 percent, while Sony is slipping almost 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 1 percent and Canon is declining almost 2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Shinsei Bank is losing almost 6 percent and Bridgestone is down almost 4 percent, while JTEKT, Mazda Motor and Seiko Epson are declining more than 3 percent each. NTN, Tokyo Electric Power, Aeon, Taiheiyo Cement, Yokohama Rubber, NSK, Dowa Holdings, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings and Nomura Holdings are all slipping almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, NEC and Trend Micro are gaining more than 2 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 113 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is plunging 1.3 percent and Singapore is slipping 1 percent, while China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.8 percent each. New Zealand is bucking the trend and is up 0.2 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Friday but largely maintained a negative bias following the pullback seen in the previous session. The-tech heavy Nasdaq saw particular volatility following the steep drop seen on Thursday.

The Dow and the S&P 500 closed firmly in the red, while the Nasdaq posted a much more modest loss. While the Nasdaq edged down 10.75 points or 0.1 percent to 15,169.68, the Dow tumbled 532.20 points or 1.5 percent to 35,365.44 and the S&P 500 slumped 48.03 points or 1 percent to 4,620.64.

The major European markets also moved mostly lower over the course of the session. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index edged down by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices tumbled Friday on concerns for energy demand due to a rapid surge in Omicron variant of the coronavirus and reimposition of restrictions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January sank $1.52 or 2.1 percent at $70.86 a barrel. WTI crude futures shed 1.1 percent in the week.

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