SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific markets fell on Thursday as traders grappled with optimism around a potential coronavirus vaccine and economic worries.
In Australia, the benchmark ASX 200 retraced some of its earlier losses but still traded down 0.16%. The so-called Big Four banks traded higher, with Westpac up by 1.75%. Major miners were mixed, with BHP down by 1.06%.
Jobs in the country surged, beating expectations in October after the state of Victoria eased coronavirus restrictions. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed employment increased by 178,800 people from September while the unemployment rate rose fractionally from 6.9% to 7% — Victoria’s employment rose by 81,600 people.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.42% while the Topix index traded fractionally lower. In South Korea, the Kospi index erased some of the earlier losses but still traded down 0.25%.
Chinese mainland shares fell in early trade: The Shanghai composite was down 0.49%, Shenzhen composite fell 0.42% and the Shenzhen component declined 0.29%. Elsewhere, in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dropped 0.6%.
The session in Asia follows U.S. stocks falling for a second straight day, pausing a recent rally to new records.
“It was a consolidative day for financial markets, which are caught in the crosscurrent of vaccine optimism and near-term economic weakness,” Daniel Been, head of foreign-exchange and G3 research at ANZ, wrote in a morning note.
Coronavirus worries
Currencies and oil
The dollar index, which measures the U.S. dollar against a basket of its peers, traded up 0.21% at 92.513 as of 9:38 a.m. HK/SIN, slipping from levels near 93.00 last week.
U.S. dollar “continues to be driven by conflicting headlines around vaccine progress and high infection rates (and renewed lockdowns),” said Kim Mundy, senior economist and currency strategist, at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, in a morning note.
“The risk is that a vaccine is not ready fast enough to offset near‑term economic damage of widespread lockdowns as a number of countries battle to get infection rates back under control,” Mundy said.
The Japanese yen traded near flat at 103.85 against the greenback while the Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7289, dropping from earlier levels around $0.73.
Oil prices fell Thursday morning during Asian trading hours: U.S. crude futures were down 0.88% at $41.45 per barrel while global benchmark Brent declined 0.68% to $44.04.
Subscribe to CNBC PRO to access live PRO Talks live, including our Dec. 2 discussion on opportunities and risks in international markets.
Source: CNBC