CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Stock markets in Asia yielded to panic and gave up much of the gains in Tuesday's early trade after warnings by Moderna CEO on the efficacy of vaccines against Omicron rattled sentiment.
China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.19 points or 0.0.03 percent to finish at 3,563.89 as a jump in manufacturing PMI quelled hopes of policy easing.
The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 462.16 points or 1.63 percent to end Tuesday's trading at 27,821.76.
Nissan Motor lost 5.16 percent. Nippon Sheet Glass Co, Mitsubhishi Motors Corp, Fast Retailing Co, Nissan Chemical Industries etc. have all lost more than 4 percent. The Japanese Yen also jumped to 113 per dollar level amidst safe-haven buying reignited by virus fears.
The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange lost 376.98 points or 1.58 percent from previous close to finish trading at 23,475.26. The day's high was at 23,888.37 and low at 23,175.37.
Korean Stock Exchange's Kospi Index lost 70 points or 2.42 percent to close at 2839.01 amidst disappointing factory output data and continuance of COVID-19 curbs. The day's trading range was between 2822.73 and 2942.93.
Australia's S&P/ASX200 closed trading at 7,256.00 after gaining 16.20 points or 0.22 percent. The index is currently 4.94 percent below its 52-week high of 7632.80.
Restaurant operator Collins foods surged more than 12 percent following upbeat results. Consumer finance business Credit Corp group rallied close to 9 percent following announcement of acquisition of Radio Rentals appliance leasing business.
Data released earlier showed that the seasonally adjusted estimate for total dwellings approved, tumbled 12.9 percent to 15,911 units. Markets had priced in a 2 percent drop.
The NZX50 of the New Zealand Stock Exchange gained 186 points or 1.48 percent to close at 12,718.91. At the close, the index was 6.78 percent below the 52-week high of 13643.78.
Power producer Meridien Energy and telecom business Spark New Zealand gained more than 5 percent. Real estate operator Argosy Property followed closely with a gain of 4.6 percent.
Dairy business Synlait Milk was the biggest loser, dropping around 4 percent.
Meanwhile, data showed that The ANZ Business Outlook Index fell to -16.4 in November from -13.4 a month ago.
On Monday, the Wall Street had rebounded from Friday's sell off triggered by fears of the new variant. Nasdaq-100 had rallied 2.33 percent to close at 16,399.24, whereas Dow Jones Industrial Average had moved up by a more modest 0.68 percent to end at 35,135.94.
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