Asia-Pacific Stock Markets See Losses, With Australian Stocks Falling Over 2%

As governments worldwide are strengthening measures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, including shutting down businesses and imposing lockdowns, investors remain concerned about its impact on the global economy.

Major Asian-Pacific stocks saw losses in morning trading on Thursday, CNBC News reported.

Australia’s S&P/ASX dropped 2.15 percent, with nearly all sectors trading lower Thursday morning.

In Japan, Nikkei 225 fell 1.45 percent and the Topix index saw a decline of 1.06 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was 0.11 percent down.

In China, key stocks also traded slightly lower, with the Shanghai composite slipping about 0.2 percent and the Shenzhen composite dropping 0.125 percent.

The MSCI Asia index traded 1.11 percent lower.

The US stock market showed a similar negative tendency on Wednesday after the US administration announced that the number of COVID-19 infections could increase drastically in the next couple of weeks.

Globally, the new coronavirus disease has infected more than 935,800 people and killed over 47,200, according to the Johns Hopkins University count.

Sourse: sputniknews.com