Asian stock markets on Friday tumbled after soaring US job losses tempered enthusiasm about a possible deal to stabilize oil prices amid anxiety over the global economic decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Benchmarks in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong all retreated. Australia’s main index fell 2.3 percent.
Some markets followed Wall Street higher in early trading after US President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he expected major oil producers Saudi Arabia and Russia to back away from their price-cutting war.
However, by midday, all major Asian markets had retreated. Southeast Asian benchmarks were mixed.
US unemployment numbers were a “hard dose of economic reality” for markets, Oanda Corp’s Jeffrey Halley said in a report.
Government data showed 6.6 million initial US unemployment claims this week, double the previous week’s record-breaking figure.
That raised the number of Americans who have lost jobs in the coronavirus-driven downturn to almost 10 million.
Markets were closed in Taipei for the Tomb Sweeping Day long weekend. The TAIEX on the last day of trading on Wednesday fell 0.46 percent to close at the day’s low at 9,663.63, up 2.7 percent from Friday last week.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 on Friday fell 0.6 percent to 17,712.51.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.8 percent to 23,098.68.
South Korea’s KOSPI retreated 0.6 percent to 1,713.55, while Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 declined to 5,032.80. India’s SENSEX fell 2.4 percent.
Shanghai shares eased to conclude the week lower, as risk-averse sentiment strengthened on continued spread of the coronavirus.
The Shanghai Composite Index (SSEC) fell 0.6 percent to 2,763.99.
The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.57 percent, with its financial sector sub-index falling 0.9 percent, the consumer staples sector up 0.52 percent, the real-estate index down 0.18 percent and the healthcare sub-index up 1.05 percent.
The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index ended down 0.47 percent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite Index was weaker by 0.5 percent.
For the week, the SSEC shed 0.3 percent, while the CSI300 gained 0.1 percent.
New Zealand and Jakarta gained on Friday, while Singapore and Bangkok retreated.
Markets usually welcome lower energy costs for companies and consumers.
However, the abrupt plunge to below US$20 this week from US$60 at the start of the year triggered fears that heavily indebted producers might default, undermining credit markets.
Trump on Thursday said on Twitter that he expects production cuts are coming after talking with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
The Kremlin denied that Russian President Vladimir Putin had talked with bin Salman, but Saudi Arabia called for a meeting of major producers, including Russia.
Additional reporting by staff writer, with CNA
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