Reuters - Asia stock prices fell Tuesday as increasing international coronavirus cases and slow progress on a U.S. virus aid package hurt market participant sentiment and encouraged selling on Wall Street overnight.
MSCI's gauge of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan was down 0.43% with Australia's ASX 200 off 1.1% to an almost three-week low. China's CSI300 Index was down 0.1% as market participants looked out for any news from a meeting of China's Communist Party leaders to set the next five-year plan.
Data out earlier in the day showed China's industrial profits grew at a slower pace in September - suggesting a recovery in the manufacturing sector is not locked in.
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 0.28% in morning trade while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 1.02%.
U.S. indexes fell overnight to open the week. Anxiety over record daily COVID-19 cases in the U.S., Russia and France weighed on market participant appetite. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.29% overnight, the S&P 500 lost 1.86%, while the Nasdaq composite dropped 1.64%.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said talks over a coronavirus relief package had slowed but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was hopeful an agreement might be reached before the Nov. 3 elections.
Many Senate Republicans have resisted legislation of a scope that Pelosi and Mnuchin have discussed - totaling around $2 trillion.
"The challenge for markets is that in most cases they are already pricing a very strong economic bounce. The new outbreaks, and the potential for a double-dip recession, directly contradict this assumption," CMC Markets Sydney-based chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said.
The stock market decline set a bleak tone ahead of a busy third quarter earnings - with large U.S. technology companies like Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Google-parent Alphabet Inc. set to report. Microsoft Corp reports its results Tuesday.
The dollar was holding largely steady - a touch lower at 92.951 against its basket of six comparative currencies. Much of the trading in currency markets, as well as other asset markets, was hit by the renewed coronavirus fears.
In early Asia, oil prices ended a run of selling but the outlook remains weak as a result of virus-induced worries over demand. Brent crude was up 12 cents, or 0.3%, at $40.58 a barrel after having dropped more than 3% overnight. U.S. oil was up 13 cents, or 03%, at $38.69 a barrel, after also declining more than 3% Monday.
Spot gold added 0.3% to $1,907.41 an ounce Tuesday morning.
