Asian indices fall as coronavirus cases surge; Wall Street declines

Shares skidded in Asia on Tuesday after surging coronavirus cases and waning hopes for US economic stimulus gave Wall Street its worst day in a month.

Stock benchmarks fell in Hong Kong, Sydney and Seoul. Tokyo was flat. Shanghai recovered from early losses to edge higher.

Overnight, the S&P 500 fell 1.9 per cent, deepening its losses from last week. Stocks of companies worst hit by the pandemic logged some of the biggest losses. Cruise lines, airlines and energy stocks tumbled in tandem with crude oil prices.

In another sign of caution, Treasury yields pulled back after touching their highest level since June last week and were steady at 0.80 per cent on Tuesday. The gloom carried into trading in Asia, where Japan's Nikkei 225 was almost unchanged at 23,485.80. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong slipped 0.4 per cent to 24,719.38. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.6 per cent to 2,330.01, while the S&P/ASX 200 slumped 1.7 per cent to 6,051.00. The Shanghai Composite index recovered from early losses, edging 0.2 per cent higher to 3,258.12.

South Korea reported better than expected 1.9 per cent QoQ economic growth in the last quarter, following a 3.2 per cent quarterly decline in April-June.