Asia Stocks Face Losses as the 2nd Coronavirus Outbreak Weigh on Investors Sentiment

Stocks in Asia traded lower on Tuesday after a huge gain in the previous session, while investors awaited Chinese trade data for June, expected to be released today.

 

As of 9:22 local time in Thailand (GMT+7), Nikkei dipped 0.64%, SSEC fell 0.22%, HSI dropped 0.85%, ASX 200 plunged 0.54% and Kospi lost 0.26%.

Over the night in Wall Street, Dow Jones barely survived with only 0.04% gain. However, S&P 500 dropped 0.94% and Nasdaq plunged 2.13%. VIX Index jumped 17.96% to 32.19 points.

 

Investors on Tuesday were awaiting to see the Chinese trade data for June. The data could provide a guideline for global investment in upcoming months as China was the first country to recover from the pandemic.

 

In the meantime, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that too many countries are headed in the wrong direction.

“In several countries across the world, we are now seeing dangerous increases in Covid-19 cases, and hospital wards filling up again,” Tedros said. “It would appear that many countries are losing gains made as proven measures to reduce risk are not implemented or followed.”

Krungsri Securities had a negative view on SET Index, expecting a decline session to 1,330-1,335 due to concerns over the possibility of a second lockdown in the U.S. after California started to close some businesses due to the rising coronavirus cases. Meanwhile, concerns were also increased in Thailand after finding new local cases that could spread further. The oil prices also edged lower in response to the rumor of OPEC+ to increase their production.