Asian markets slid on Tuesday, 15 March 2022, as a surge in Covid-19 cases across China piled fresh worry onto investors already rattled by the war in Ukraine and the prospect of the first American interest-rate rise in three years.
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.91 percent, led by Chinese stocks, leaving it down 8.2 percent for the month so far.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 3.8 percent early on Tuesday, a day after a selloff of almost 5 percent, and the benchmark was down 17 percent in March. On the mainland, the CSI300 index lost 2.3 percent.
China reported 3,602 new confirmed coronavirus cases for the day, up from 1,437 the day before, according to the National Health Commission. Investors fear the outbreak will dent the country’s growth in the first quarter.
Hong Hao, head of research at BOCOM International, said traders are now fixed on those case numbers. “Right now, everyone is looking at the Chinese cases and realizing that has to have an effect on production,” he said, adding that first-quarter growth could be “closer to zero than 5.5 percent.”
Oil fell as hopes rose that a fresh round of Russia-Ukraine talks would bring progress, though the fourth round of negotiations began Monday without any major movement. U.S. crude slipped 2.54 percent, settling at US$100.44 a barrel, while Brent dropped 2.27 percent to US$104.42.
In the United States, the Dow was mostly flat, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.74 percent and the Nasdaq lost 2.04 percent. The Federal Reserve was due to meet the following day, with markets expecting the first rate hike in three years.
Sources
- Asia stocks skid as Ukraine war, China's Covid surge weigh
- Asia Stocks Rally on Sino-US Tensions Thaw, China Covid Hopes
