Asian markets pull back amid resurgent coronavirus fears

Passage of the nearly $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package was expected later Monday. However, a resurgence of virus outbreaks around the globe has dented optimism that vaccines can bring a swift end to the pandemic.

Most investors had already factored in expectations for the fresh stimulus, Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary.

“The tentative accord on the approximate $900 billion coronavirus stimulus deal, having been the talk of the town for weeks, brought forth little fresh enthusiasm for markets,” Pan said.

In Asia, new COVID-19 outbreaks have led authorities to impose lockdowns or other restrictions in Australia and Thailand. In Japan, the government has suspended a travel promotion program and advised restaurants and bars to close early.

Meanwhile, in Britain the spread of an especially contagious form of the coronavirus has brought fresh limits on business and other activity. Other European governments are likewise stepping up measures to contain a resurgence of the pandemic.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index NIK, -0.29% lost 0.6% while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng HSI, -0.03% declined 0.2%. South Korea’s Kospi 180721, +0.12% declined 0.3% and in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 XJO, -0.20% shed 0.2%.

The Shanghai Composite index SHCOMP, +0.64% gained 0.6%. Shares rose in Taiwan Y9999, +0.81% but fell in Singapore STI, +0.10%.

The U.S. stimulus agreement is to establish temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefits and $600 direct stimulus payments to most Americans, along with a fresh round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses and funding for schools, health care providers, and renters facing eviction.

The final agreement was reached after a breakthrough over Federal Reserve emergency powers was resolved by the Senate’s top Democrat and a senior conservative Republican.

Wall Street retreated on Friday as investors waited to see if Congress would deliver on its promises of more cash for struggling workers and businesses.

The S&P 500 fell 0.4%, a day after it and other major indexes returned to record heights. The decline snapped a three-day winning streak for the benchmark index, but it still notched a 1.3% weekly gain that more than made up its prior week’s loss.

Friday was a quadruple “witching day,” Wall Street-speak for the quarterly expiration of stock options and futures contracts, which forces traders to tie up loose ends in contracts they hold, leading to particularly heavy trading volume.

The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.35% fell 13.07 points to 3,709.41. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.41% lost 0.4% to 30,179.05. The Nasdaq composite COMP, -0.07% gave up 0.1% to 12,755.64.

The worsening pandemic has been tightening its chokehold on the economy Reports last week showed more workers are applying for jobless benefits and sales for retailers slumped by more last month than economists expected.

Wall Street’s hope is that big stimulus for the economy might help carry it through a tough winter, until the widespread rollout of COVID-19 vaccines might bring relief.

But it will be months before most people can get the shots, and the pandemic is likely to do even more damage in the interim.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was at 0.93%, down slightly from 0.94% late Friday.

U.S. benchmark crude oil CLF21, -2.89% lost $1.46 to $47.78 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 70 cents to $49.24 per barrel on Friday.

Brent crude BRNG21, -2.99%, the international standard, declined $1.63 to $50.63 per barrel.

The dollar USDJPY, +0.17% slipped to 103.29 Japanese yen from 103.32 yen on Friday. The dollar’s prolonged weakness against the yen prompted Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to warn that the government did not want to see the dollar-yen rate fall below 100 yen.