Asian stocks drop as US coronavirus cases soar
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Asian stocks dipped this morning as several US states recorded soaring new coronavirus cases, sparking concern about economic recovery.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.74 per cent while Japanese stocks were down by 0.58 per cent.
China’s Shanghai composite index dropped 1.5 per cent as state media discouraged retail investors from chasing the market higher and worries about tensions with the US reemerged.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 2.14 per cent.
More than 60,500 new Covid-19 infections were reported across the United States yesterday.
The new infections broke the record for the largest single-day tally of cases by any country since the virus emerged late last year in China, spooking investors that are wary of another lockdown,
Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dropped to a near four-month low last week, data showed.
But investors remained cautious as the report also said a record 32.9m people were collecting unemployment checks in the third week of June.
“Weakness in financial stocks, with the bank sub-index down 2.5 per cent, comes ahead of next week’s second quarter reporting season that sees JP Morgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo all report next Tuesday and following news that Wells Fargo is planning to cut ‘thousands’ of jobs starting later this year,” Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank. told Reuters.