Pedestrians are reflected through a window as they pass an electronic stock board at the ASX Ltd exchange. in Sydney, Australia, on Thursday, February 14, 2019.
David Moir | Bloomberg | beautiful pictures
SINGAPORE – Asia-Pacific markets fall on Monday as investors keep an eye on the coronavirus pandemic and rising interest rates in the US
In Korea, Kospi The index fell 1.18% while the Kosdaq fell 1.7%.
Australian benchmark ASX 200 The trade fell 0.1%, after regaining some of its earlier losses. The high-weight financials sub-index fell 0.08%, but the energy and materials sub-index rose 1.29% and 1.25%, respectively.
Shares of major miners rose: Rio Tinto 1.86% more, Fortescue increased by 2.75% and BHP 1.89% more.
Markets in Japan are closed for a holiday.
Monday’s session followed a mixed session in Asia on Friday while outside, the three equity averages all fell.
The 10-year Treasury yield higher is 1.8% on Friday following the release of the December nonfarm payrolls report, of which 199,000 jobs were added during the month. This was significantly lower than market expectations of 422,000 jobs.
Last week, minutes from the December meeting of the US Federal Reserve indicated that officials were ready to actively dial in policy support. It shows the central bank is planning to shrink its balance sheet in addition to raising interest rates.
In other places, Covid cases have continued to rise sharply globally following the emergence of the highly infectious omicron variant. Places like the US, Australia and the UK have reported record numbers of cases in recent weeks.
“Initial studies indicate that although Omicron is much more infectious than Delta, fortunately it causes less hospitalizations and increased vaccines,” said ANZ Research analysts. increased risk of hospitalization further,” ANZ Research analysts said in a morning note.
“Unfortunately, as supply shortages due to the pandemic continue to intensify, it is clear that the inflationary roller coaster ride is not over yet,” they added.
Currency and oil
In the money market, dollar index transactions increased 0.09% at 95,802 compared to a basket of companies in the same industry.
The Japanese yen change hands at 115.62 per dollar while Australian dollar Trading is up 0.11% at $0.7186.
Oil prices fell on Monday during Asian trading hours: US crude oil down 0.44% at $78.55 a barrel.
“Geopolitical tensions are likely to weigh on commodities this week,” said analysts at ANZ Research. “The gas market is competitive as tensions remain high in Ukraine, while unrest in Kazakhstan are threatening the supply of key metals. “
