The stock markets of the Asia-Pacific region were split this morning. A part of the indices increased, while the other began to decline. The reason for such ambiguous dynamics lies in the fears of market participants about the repetition of the situation with the global COVID-19 pandemic. Many began to realize that there was still a long way to go, which would certainly not be simple and would bring many surprises.
Today, the Shanghai Composite China index declined from 0.35%, while the SZSE Component, on the contrary, although slightly (by 0.03%), increased its position. This happened amid new quarantine measures taken in Beijing. Therefore, the official authorities closed schools and changed the status of danger in the direction of tightening - to the second level. All this is done in order to avoid new mass infections and not to provoke a new wave of a pandemic. However, investors are concerned about the fact of what is happening, and they will win back the consequences later.
The situation is also strengthened by news from the United States, where an increase in the number of infected in some states is also recorded.
Another pressure factor was the armed clashes between China and India, which took place at the beginning of this week. According to recent reports, there were no casualties on both sides.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.06% this morning. And even the government's intention to proceed to the next step to weaken quarantine measures related to the social distance of people could not support it. The authorities wanted to lift the ban on holding mass events and weddings with a total number of participants no more than 50 people.
At the same time, Japan's Nikkei 225 index declined by 1.15%, which nullified all its achievements from the previous trading day.
The South Korean KOSPI Index also showed a decline of 0.81%. The reason for the negativity here was the worsening conflict with North Korea. The day before, the neighbors blew up a communications office common to both countries and expressed their firm intention to land their army on demilitarized territory. In South Korea, they hastened to respond to the provocation by saying that they were no longer going to turn a blind eye to such outrageous actions of their neighbors.
On the contrary, Australia's ASX 200 Index posted a slight (0.01%) increase.
The mood of market participants was seriously affected after the statement of the International Monetary Fund's head. He said that one should not hope for an improvement in the economic situation in the world. Most likely, the updated data will reflect even more significant than previously expected, the rate of decline in growth. Moreover, the current situation and the crisis that arose against the backdrop of the global pandemic have become unique phenomena, the scale and consequences of which are unrivaled.
The only thing that is at least a little encouraging is the possible creation of a drug that will reduce mortality from the virus.
The stock markets of Europe today, on the contrary, are growing steadily. Concerns regarding a new wave of COVID-19 did not have as much influence on them as in the Asian region.
The total index of Euroregion enterprises Stoxx Europe 600 increased by 0.71% and reached the level of 365.90 points this morning.
On the other hand, the UK FTSE 100 index rose by 1%, the German DAX Index by 0.89% and the French CAC index which was the luckiest of all increased by 1.02%. Spain's IBEX 35 index, albeit small, still showed growth (0.07%). Lastly, Italy's FTSE MIB Index is up 0.79%.
The level of consumer prices in the UK last month was higher by 0.5% in average annual terms. These numbers have been minimal over the past four years. This suggests that inflation in the country, in comparison with the previous period, declined by 0.8%. Meanwhile, preliminary forecasts reflected an estimated decline in consumer prices by about 0.5%.
The main attention of market participants today will be occupied by statistical data on the overall inflation rate in the EU for the last month of Spring.
