SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific markets were set to trade lower Thursday as traders grapple with optimism around a potential coronavirus vaccine and economic worries.
In Australia, the benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.23% in early trade where resource producers struggled for gains. The country’s so-called Big Four banks rose, with Westpac up by 1.03%.
Futures pointed to a cautious open in Japan where the benchmark Nikkei 225 last finished at 25,728.14 on Wednesday.
The session in Asia follows U.S. stocks falling for a second straight day, pausing a recent rally to new records.
“It was a consolidative day for financial markets, which are caught in the crosscurrent of vaccine optimism and near-term economic weakness,” Daniel Been, head of foreign-exchange and G3 research at ANZ, wrote in a morning note.
Pfizer and BioNTech on Wednesday said that a final data analysis found their coronavirus vaccine was 95% effective in preventing Covid-19 and appeared to fend off severe disease. Meanwhile Moderna said preliminary phase three trial data showed its vaccine was more than 94% effective.
Still, as cases continue to climb, particularly in the U.S., authorities are moving to reinstitute some of the stay-at-home orders, curfews and public safety measures, including shutting down nonessential businesses in a handful of cities. There are growing worries that if the infection spread is not contained, widespread lockdowns could be reinstated.
“The risk is that a vaccine is not ready fast enough to offset near‑term economic damage of widespread lockdowns as a number of countries battle to get infection rates back under control,” Mundy said.
Currencies and oil
The dollar index, which measures the U.S. dollar against a basket of its peers, traded at 92.409 as of 7:19 a.m. HK/SIN, slipping from levels near 93.00 last week.
U.S. dollar “continues to be driven by conflicting headlines around vaccine progress and high infection rates (and renewed lockdowns),” said Kim Mundy, senior economist and currency strategist, at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, in a morning note.
The Japanese yen traded near flat at 103.84 against the greenback while the Australian dollar changed little as well, trading at $0.7301.
Oil prices traded mixed: U.S. crude futures were down 0.43% at $41.64 per barrel while global benchmark Brent rose 0.87% to $44.13.Subscribe to CNBC PRO to access live PRO Talks live, including our Dec. 2 discussion on opportunities and risks in international markets.
Source: CNBC