Asian Stock Market: New Zealand bucks downtrend despite covid concerns

• Asian equities track Wall Street losses as virus woes escalate.
• NZ PM Ardern’s optimism saves NZX 50, US stock futures, Treasury yields remain mildly offered.
• Fed policymakers remain divided over rate hikes but back the tapering chatters.
• Aussie jobs report shrugs off local lockdowns but failed to impress bulls as NSW extends virus-led activity restrictions.

Asian markets print losses, except for New Zealand, as the coronavirus fears spread inside the region. That said, MSCI’s index of Asia–Pacific shares outside Japan drops towards the yearly low, down 0.60% intraday by the press time, whereas Japan’s Nikkei 225 drop 0.72% heading into Thursday’s European session.

Although signals that the UK and the US will start using booster shots of the covid vaccine tried placating the bears, yearly high of infections in Australia, a record level of daily cases and the death toll in the US and a jump in New Zealand’s virus figures to 11 favor the pessimists.

Also on the same line could be the indecision among the Fed policymakers relating to the next moves even as most of them back the start of tapering. The reason could be linked to dissatisfaction with employment recovery.

Amid these plays, stocks in China remain pressured but improve lately amid chatters more easing. However, Australia’s ASX 200 can’t cheer strong jobs report for July, drops 0.43% on a day by the press time.

Stocks in South Korea and Indonesia drop over 1.0% but India cheers easy infection data to limit the losses around 0.20-25% at the latest.

Alternatively, New Zealand’s NZX 50 jumps 1.78% after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern signaled hopes to tame the latest virus spread in the nation.

On a broader front, Wall Street benchmarks saw the red and the US 10-year Treasury yields join stock futures to print a sluggish day. However, the US Dollar Index (DXY) benefits from the risk-off to refresh yearly top and weigh on the commodity prices.

Read: Wall Street Close: Bears tighten grips on FOMC Minutes, coronavirus woes