Asia shares and oil prices slide on China COVID outbreaks
As investors worried about the economic effects of new COVID-19 restrictions in China, Asian share markets and oil prices fell on Monday. As a result of this risk aversion, bonds and the dollar benefited.
Related Articles
As the city’s COVID case counts increased on Monday, Beijing’s most populous district recommended citizens to stay at home, while at least one area in Guangzhou was shut down for five days.
The sudden increase in breakouts across the nation has dashed hopes for an early relaxation of stringent pandemic restrictions, which was one of the factors cited for last week’s 10% drop in oil prices.
Early trading saw a 1.5% decline in Chinese blue chips, resulting in a 1.3% decline in MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan. South Korea lost 1.1% while the Nikkei in Japan fell 0.1%.
Nasdaq futures down 0.3%, while S&P 500 futures fell 0.4%. 50 futures dropped 0.3%, while FTSE futures fell 0.2%.
While Black Friday sales will give an indication of how consumers are faring and the outlook for retail companies, the US Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and the distraction of the World Cup may lead to light trade.
Asia shares
The G7 plan to control the price of Russian crude oil will be unveiled on December 5, according to the EU’s energy policy leader, who told Reuters that the EU anticipates finishing its regulations in time.
The weak December WTI contract expiration reflected paper market selling rather than actual physical market weakening, according to RBC Capital analyst Mike Tran.
He wrote in a letter that “tight global inventories do not support the usual surplus of barrels reasoning for contango.”
Even though the spot market indications for the North Sea and West Africa are weak, they are also not signalling any symptoms of distress, he continued.
Markets for diesel remained competitive, with Europe and the US vying for barrels. Even though China’s diesel exports nearly doubled from a year earlier in October to 1.06 million tonnes, the amount was still much lower than September’s 1.73 million tonnes.
The post Asia shares and oil prices slide on China COVID-19 outbreaks appeared first on IndiaFrontline.
