Asian stocks markets fell on Tuesday as soaring global coronavirus cases and slow progress on a US stimulus deal hammered investor sentiment and took a toll on Wall Street.
MSCI’s gauge of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan was down 0.43 percent, with Australia’s ASX 200 off 1.1 percent to an almost three-week low.
China’s CSI300 Index edged down 0.1 percent, as investors 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 also showed China’s industrial profits grew at a slower pace in September, suggesting a recovery in the manufacturing sector is yet to be bedded-in.
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 0.28 percent in morning trade while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 1.02 percent.
US indices fell sharply overnight to open the week’s trading, as anxiety over new record daily COVID-19 cases in the United States, Russia and France weighed on investor appetite.
Adding to the gloom, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters on Monday that talks over a coronavirus relief package have slowed, though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remained hopeful an agreement can be reached before the Nov. 3 elections.
