Asia-Pacific stock markets continued to decline earlier in the week, following heavy losses on Friday and sell-offs on Wall Street and in European markets, as investors continued to monitor developments regarding the new Omicron coronavirus mutation.
The World Health Organization has described Omicron as a “variant of concern.”, while preliminary data on the new executive suggest that with Omicron there is “increased risk of re-infection”. However, the WHO said in a statement on Sunday that it was still unclear whether the Omicron mutation was causing a more serious illness than other mutations, including Delta.
Several countries around the world have closed their borders to passengers from South African countries. Singapore, India, Taiwan and New Zealand have followed the line since Friday, with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida saying on Monday that the country would ban foreign visitors from November 30, according to Reuters.
THE travel industry on Monday, Japan Airlines plunged 3.84%, while ANA Holdings fell 3.66%. Qantas Airways in Australia lost 1.7%, while the share of Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong fell 2.96%. At the same wavelength, Singapore Airlines slipped by 2.18%.
In the “big” picture, at Hong Kong The Hang Seng Index is losing 0.52%, with Chinese tech giant Meituan losing more than 7% after the company on Friday announced a loss of about 10 billion Chinese yuan ($ 1.56 billion) for quarter ended September 30.
Sun Entertainment Group’s share sinks 23% after South China Morning Post reports that major shareholder Alvin Chau Cheok-Wa has been arrested on suspicion of alleged gambling offenses. Suncity Group trading, of which Chau is the chief executive, was suspended on Monday, “pending a statement on Chau’s case”.
In mainland China Shanghai Composite is falling marginally, while Shenzen is gaining 0.275%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 loses 0.8%, while the Topix index slips by 1.13%. In South Korea, Kospi is down 0.47%.
In Australia the S & P / ASX 200 is down 0.25%.
Meanwhile, oil prices in Asian trade were recovering from their worst day of the year, Friday, when they fell as much as 13%.
Brent oil gained 4.25% to $ 75.81 a barrel, while US crude rose 5.03% to $ 71.58 a barrel.
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