SINGAPORE – Asia Pacific stocks battled for direction Thursday trading as concerns over the economic impact of the Omicron-Covid variant continue to weigh on investor sentiment.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.2%, reversing previous losses. However, Razer’s shares in town fell more than 8% in troubled trading. The company said a consortium offered to take it privately at $ 2.82 Hong Kong each, about 5.62% more than Razer’s closing price on Wednesday.
Mainland stocks were mixed, with the Shanghai composite floating above the flatline and the Shenzhen component falling 0.197%.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 lost 0.4% while the Topix index lost 0.3%. South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.2%.
In Australia, the S & P / ASX 200 fell slightly below the flatline. According to official figures, Australia’s trade surplus in October was a seasonally adjusted Australian $ 11.22 billion ($ 7.97 billion). In a Reuters poll of a $ 11 billion surplus for October, that was contrary to expectations.
MSCI’s broadest index for Asia Pacific stocks outside of Japan traded 0.31% higher.
Wall Street Reversal
Wall Street stocks reversed sharply overnight after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first case of Omicron in the United States
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 461.68 points to 34,022.04 while the S&P 500 fell 1.18% to 4,513.04. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.83% to 15,254.05.
The CBOE volatility index, or “VIX,” commonly known as Wall Street’s “fear indicator” rose to 31.12 on Wednesday, compared to levels below 27 earlier this week.
US stock futures traded in positive territory after Wednesday’s declines. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 237 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures also traded in positive territory.
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Oil increases by 1%
Oil prices were higher on the morning of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude oil futures rising 1.42% to $ 69.81 a barrel. US crude oil futures rose 1.39% to $ 66.49 a barrel.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of its competitors, stood at 95.963 after rising just above 96.5 earlier in the week.
The Japanese yen was trading at 113.06 the dollar, still stronger than the levels above 113.4 seen against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar was trading at $ 0.711 after recently falling above $ 0.715.
