Asian stocks tumble following sell-off on Wall Street
The energy sector slump came after a rough day for oil prices, which tumbled Thursday on fears that the global economic recovery could be held back by stubborn coronavirus outbreaks in Europe and slow vaccine roll-outs. The global oil benchmark Brent crude fell nearly 7% to hit at $63.28 per barrel, while US oil fell more than 7% to $60 a barrel. Oil futures continued to slip during Asian hours.
“With the well-telegraphed vaccine distribution problems in Europe already weighing on the Bloc’s markets,” news of big lockdowns in France “played no small part in oil’s demise,” wrote Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at Oanda, in a Friday research note.
While all three major US indexes finished Thursday in the red, the Nasdaq suffered the steepest losses as the 10-year Treasury bond yield climbed to a new 13-month high.
“The rapid rise in long-end US yields has spooked investors again overnight as there appears to be no lasting respite for the fixed income onslaught,” wrote Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist for Sydney-based online broker Axi, in a Friday research note.
A rocky start to US-China talks in Alaska might also be weighing on markets, according to Halley.
“To summarise, ‘China isn’t happy,’ so business as usual,” Halley wrote. “Any improved trade premium has vanished from mainland China stock markets today, and reproachment between the two superpowers looks as distant as ever.”
— Julia Horowitz and Anneken Tappe contributed to this report.
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