Today, there is no single direction of movement on the stock exchanges in Asia. The indices are changing in different directions, the reason for which was the growing anxiousness of the investors regarding a possible second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the latest data received yesterday from the World Health Organization, the number of new COVID-19 patients in the world has increased by 183 thousand people per day. Such a high rate has not yet been in the history of the pandemic. However, most of the infected were in Latin America mainly in Brazil and in the United States of America.
The start of the trading day in the Asia-Pacific region was not so impressive. Market participants were in no hurry to take the initiative, and trading was sluggish and multidirectional. Investors cannot figure out further work, as they are pressured by two completely opposite factors. On one hand, concerns about the second wave of coronavirus infection are becoming almost a reality, which scares the markets. On the other hand, there are very positive statistics on economic growth. Many preliminary forecasts are adjusted with more positive values, which, on the contrary, supports the markets pretty well.
In general, analysts believe that today the world is in a difficult situation when it is necessary to maintain a delicate balance between the resumption of economic activity and the caution associated with the spread of COVID-19. The premature removal of quarantine can further aggravate the situation in the economy, but the temptation to take active steps to quickly go through the acute phase of the crisis will also not lead to good. Thus, the situation in the markets is rather controversial, and quick decisions should not be expected in the near future.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell slightly by 0.03%.
China's Shanghai Composite Index, by contrast, rose to 0.1%. But the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index fell by 0.45%.
The South Korean Kospi index also fell by 0.3%.
Australia's S & P / ASX 200 Index did not move.
A decrease is also expected on the European stock exchanges. Market participants are also extremely puzzled by the new increase in the incidence of coronavirus. Just as in Asia, they are afraid of the consequences that could happen in the economy if the second wave turns out to be a reality.
The German DAX index in the morning became cheaper by 0.5%. The French CAC 40 index fell by 1.7%. The British FTSE 100 index was the least affected, which fell by 0.3%.
Investors began to more closely monitor the situation of the spread of coronavirus, especially since now we can talk about the growth of infected in relation not only to China and the United States of America but also to European states. Thus, the indicator of the spread of infection in Germany showed a sharp jump to the level of 2.88. This has shown that in the long term new measures will be needed to contain the infection.
