- Asian equities ease amid fresh challenges to risk, downbeat China data.
- American sanctions on Chinese diplomats, the EU-US trade war also sour the trading sentiment.
Despite staying positive on a day, Asian shares recede ahead of Tuesday’s European session. While portraying the same, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan prints 0.05% intraday losses whereas Japan’s Nikkei 225 weakens to 24,925, down 0.35% daily, versus the initial uptrend beyond the 25,000 mark.
Hopes of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, mainly triggered through the claims of Pfizer-BioNTech, gained additional support from the US Health Official Dr. Anthony Fauci as he conveyed hopes for Moderna’s research to reach Pfizer’s line. Though, a halt in China’s vaccine trials for Sinovac due to the death of an under-study, despite the initial findings suggesting no relating to the vaccine trials, challenged the market optimism.
Also weighing on the risks could be the US sanctions on four Chinese diplomats in regards to the Hong Kong Security Bill crackdown. Further, European sanctions on the US goods worth $4 billion as well as President Donald Trump’s final push to keep the Senate under Republican control exert an additional burden on the trading sentiment.
It should also be noted that October’s downbeat inflation data from China crosses Japan’s mixed figures for Current Account and Trade Balance to confuse the market bulls.
That said, Australia’s ASX 200 keeps 0.60% intraday gains, in contrast to the same amount of losses by New Zealand’s NZX 50. Stocks in China and South Korea trade mixed whereas bourses from India and Indonesia flash green signals by press time. Furthermore, S&P 500 Futures mark 0.60% loss while wobbling around by the time of writing.
Moving on, a lack of major data/events will keep traders directed to the risk catalysts. Among them, vaccine hopes, trade war headlines may gain enough attention.
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