It was a tough day for the stocks in the Asia Pacific. Importantly, South Korea’s Kospi led losses among the region’s major markets. The Kospi index fell 2.38% to close at 2’332.59.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 0.98% to finish its trading day at 23’716.85. Interestingly, HSBC saw its stock drop 2.05% while Standard Chartered declined 2.29%. Both of them suffered losses on Monday. As a reminder, according to reports, they allegedly moved large sums of suspicious funds.
Also, mainland Chinese stocks saw losses on the day. The Shanghai Composite dropped 1.29% to about 3’274.30 and the Shenzhen Component fell 0.959% to around 13’023.43.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.66% to end its trading day at 5’784.10.
Importantly, markets in Japan were closed on September 22 for a holiday.
Two days ago, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 509.72 points or 1.8% to close at 27’147.70. Also, the S&P 500 dropped 1.2% to finish its trading day at 3’281.06. The Nasdaq Composite fell just 0.1% to 10’778.80.
Notably, for the first time since February, the S&P 500 posted four straight daily losses. Moreover, the Dow had its worst day since September 8.
South Korea and its Flag Carrier
It is a well-known fact that the aviation industry suffered huge losses and South Korea’s flag carrier Korean Air is not an exception. Unfortunately, rising coronavirus cases have the potential to create additional problems for the industry.
Shares of airlines in Asia-Pacific fell on September 22.
In Hong Kong, shares of China Eastern Airlines dropped 4.8% and shares of China Southern Airlines fell 5.27%. Also, the shares of Cathay Pacific fell 2.11%.
In South Korea, shares of Korean Air Lines declined 2.39%. Australia’s Qantas Airways dropped 1.82%.
Notably, European countries are likely to introduce more restrictions on public life in the coming days following a rapid rise in the number of daily coronavirus infections.
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