Asian markets are down across the board Tuesday over lingering worries about the rising casualties from the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and the stalemate in Washington over a potential new financial relief package.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index ended down 0.1%. The S&P/ASX index in Australia dropped 0.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index plunged 0.6%. The KOSPI index in South Korea lost 0.1%, while Taiwan’s TSEC index plummeted one percent.
Singapore’s Composite lost 1.8 points, but was unchanged percentage-wise (0.06%). In late afternoon trading, Mumbai’s Sensex is 25 points higher, but is also unchanged percentage-wise (0.09%).
In commodities trading, gold is trading at $1,848.30 an ounce, up 0.8%. U.S. crude oil is selling at $46.82, down 0.3%, and Brent crude oil is down 0.5%.
All three major U.S. indices are up in futures trading.