Asian markets are in free fall Monday as investors turn increasingly pessimistic about a quick post-pandemic economic recovery.
The Nikkei in Tokyo lost 2.3% at the closing bell, with the Hang Seng in Hong down 1.3% in late afternoon trading and Shanghai’s Composite index down 0.8%.
The S&P/ASX index in Sydney is 1.6% down, Seoul’s KOSPI index has lost 1.9%, and both Taiwan’s TSEC and Mumbai’s Sensex indices are down one percent.
Oil markets are also crashing Monday. U.S. crude oil is selling at $37.95 per barrel, down 1.4%, while Brent crude, the international standard, is selling at $40.46 per barrel, down 1.3%.
Financial markets had begun a slow but steady recovery as governments around the world were beginning to reopen their economies after easing restrictions imposed to blunt the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. But U.S. markets sustained major losses last Friday due to a dramatic surge of new infections across the country.