SINGAPORE – Asia Pacific stocks fell sharply in Wednesday’s trading, as concerns about the global recovery from the pandemic weighed on investor sentiment.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was one of the biggest losers among the main markets in the region, down 1.9% in the afternoon.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.83% in afternoon trading, while the Topix index fell 1.86%.
Mainland China shares also fell, with the Shanghai component falling 1.22%, while the Shenzhen component fell 1.354%.
In South Korea, the Kospi fell 0.39%.
Australia’s shares resisted the general trend regionally, with the S & P / ASX 200 gaining 0.49%.
The broader MSCI index for Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan fell 1.1%.
Many regions around the world are seeing an increase in new cases of Covid-19 as highly contagious variants continue to spread, the World Health Organization said earlier this week. In Europe, authorities continue to fight the virus as the region faces a third wave of Covid.
Moving actions
In corporate ventures, Tencent’s shares in Hong Kong fell 1.11% on Wednesday afternoon in the city. Reuters reported, citing people with direct knowledge, that the company’s founder met with China’s antitrust officials this month to discuss compliance in his group. The Chinese internet giant is expected to announce its fourth quarter and annual results on Wednesday.
Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group’s shares in Hong Kong plunged 4.83%. The changes came after Hong Kong and Macau announced that they were suspending vaccinations at BioNTech Covid. Fosun Pharma is a partner of BioNTech in the development and distribution of the Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine in Greater China.
In Taiwan, chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s power shares fell more than 2% in Wednesday afternoon trading. This came after Intel announced it would spend $ 20 billion to build two new chip factories in Arizona.
Meanwhile, Chinese streaming company Bilibili announced on Tuesday that it will raise 20.2 billion Hong Kong dollars (about $ 2.6 billion) on its next secondary listing in Hong Kong, after pricing its shares at 808 Hong Kong dollars each. Bilibili’s shares are due to start trading in Hong Kong on Monday.
Coins and oil
The US dollar index, which tracks the US dollar against a basket of its peers, was at 92.364, after hitting levels below 91.8 earlier in the week.
The yen traded at 108.51 per dollar, compared to levels around 108.9 against the dollar seen earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7604 after falling yesterday from above $ 0.768.
Oil prices rose on the afternoon of trading in Asia, with Brent’s international benchmark oil futures rising 0.21% to $ 60.92 a barrel. US oil futures gained 0.23% to $ 57.89 a barrel.