SINGAPORE — Stocks in India led losses as Asia-Pacific shares traded lower on Monday.
Both the Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex in India dropped more than 2% each in Monday morning trade as cases in the country spike.
The losses came as the Covid-19 situation in the country remains severe, with Reuters reporting the hardest-hit state of Maharashtra is considering a lockdown.
Meanwhile, mainland Chinese stocks also fell as the Shanghai composite declined 0.81% while the Shenzhen component was lower by 1.72%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.98%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.52% while the Topix index sat below the flatline. South Korea’s Kospi bucked the trend and was edged 0.03% higher.
Stocks in Australia slipped as the S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.45%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan declined 1.19%.
Stocks on the move
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.251 following its decline earlier this month from above 92.8.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.54 per dollar, stronger than levels above 110.5 against the greenback seen last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7608 following turbulent trade last week that saw it swinging from above $0.765 to around $0.759.
Oil prices were little changed in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up fractionally to $62.99 per barrel. U.S. crude futures were slightly higher at $59.37 per barrel.
Source: CNBC