Asia Stocks Trade Cautiously amid Rising Coronavirus Cases and Plunging Oil Prices

Stocks in Asia traded cautiously on Wednesday as the coronavirus infections in the U.S. remained at an average level, causing oil prices to plummet as well.

 

As of 9:38 local time in Thailand (GMT+7), Nikkei fell 0.37%, SSEC slipped 0.41%, HSI dropped 0.58%, KOSPI dipped 0.18%, while ASX 200 rose 0.02%.

According to the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, daily U.S. coronavirus cases have risen by a record average of 69,967 over the past week. Meanwhile, at least a total of 8,654,000 cases of infection were reported and 252,000 reported deaths by the coronavirus virus in Europe so far.

 

In an early trading session in Asia, the global benchmark Brent Crude dropped $0.77 a barrel or 1.87% to $40.43 per barrel. Meanwhile, the West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $0.92 a barrel or 2.32% to $38.65 a barrel. The drop in oil prices was due to concerns over lacking demand amid rising coronavirus cases that could send some areas back to a lockdown.