Asian markets halted winning streak to end lower on Friday amid uncertainty about the prospects for a global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite gains in US Market, Asian markets opened muted on Friday with profit booking in early trade. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng led the losses by sinking 1.97% or 578.38 points. Japanese Nikkei slipped 241.34 points or 0.83%. Korean Kospi also ended 0.83% lower. SGC Nifty was also over 200 points down.
Chinese stocks have been clear outperformers in the last fortnight but on Friday they too struggled. Shanghai Composite dropped 0.81% while Shenzhen ended 0.18% lower. Taiwan market was unchanged.
Australian market ASX ended marginally lower (0.8%) while in Neighbouring New Zealand market ended marginally higher (0.13%).
Major recent outbreaks and slow progress in vaccinations have added to worries about the pandemic in Asia, despite some nations such as Taiwan, South Korea and China faring relatively well in Covid-19 related illnesses and deaths. However, the rise of cases in countries like Japan and India has been significant. Indian Nifty50 was also lower.
US stocks closed with gains as Dow Jones regained 34000 with 230 points rise. Nasdaq closed in the green after volatile intraday swings as markets react to superb technology earnings. Bond yields rose to 2 month highs at 1.63% even as US$ sees weakness.
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