VietJoy

Worries over a surge of coronavirus cases in the United States and other nations have sent global financial markets mostly downward Monday. 

Japan’s Nikkei index ended the day’s trading session at 0.1% lower, with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong down 0.6% in late afternoon trading. Seoul’s KOSPI index is 0.6% lower.   

The Sensex in Mumbai is up 1%, while Taiwan’s TSEC index is 0.2% higher. Both Australia’s S&P/ASX and Shanghai’s Composite indices are fluctuating between negative and positive but are virtually unchanged. 

In Europe, both London’s FTSE and the CAC-40 in Paris are down 0.2% in early morning trading, while the DAX in Frankfurt is 0.1% lower. 

Oil markets are holding steady Monday, with U.S. crude selling at $39.82 per barrel, up 0.1%, and Brent crude, the global benchmark, selling at $42.34 per barrel, up 0.3%. 

Markets are reeling after the World Health Organization on Sunday reported 183,000 new COVID-19 cases worldwide -- the largest one-day increase since the outbreak began.     

WHO said Brazil led the way with nearly 55,000 new cases, followed by the United States with more than 36,000 and India with about 15,000 new cases.     

Overall, the WHO says there are more than 8,963,000 cases worldwide and over 468,000 deaths.  

All three U.S. indexes were trading higher in Monday’s futures markets.