Stocks in Asia-Pacific at the End of January

The first month of the year comes to an end, and let’s have a look at stocks in Asia-Pacific. As a reminder, Asia is home to some of the biggest economies in the world such as China, Japan, and South Korea.

It is worth mentioning that, stocks in Asia-Pacific fell on Friday, with South Korea’s Kospi leading losses among the region’s major markets. Interestingly, Kospi dropped 3.03% to finish its trading day at 2,976.21.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.89% to close at 27,663.39. In the meantime, the Topix index declined 1.64% to end its trading day at 1,808.78.

It was a tough day for mainland Chinese stocks. The Shanghai Composite dropped 0.63% to 3,483.07. At the same time, the Shenzhen Component declined 0.612% to 14,821.99.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.94% to end its trading day at 28,283.71.

Interestingly, in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.64% to close at 6,607.40.

Let’s have a look at U.S. stocks as well. On Thursday, the S&P 500 added 0.98% to close at 3,787.38. Also, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 300.19 points to finish its trading day at 30,603.36. Interestingly, the Nasdaq Composite added 0.5% to close at 13,337.16.

Stocks and coronavirus vaccine

Investors are closely monitoring the situation connected with the coronavirus pandemic, as this issue is not over yet and it could take at least several months to stabilize the situation. According to the biotech firm Novavax, its vaccine was more than 89% effective in protecting against COVD-19.

Interestingly, the study found that the vaccine produced by Novavax appeared 85.6% effective against the U.K. variant. However, a separate phase two study in South Africa showed the vaccine is not nearly as effective against a new strain ravaging that country.

Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic continues to dominate the headlines for a long time. Moreover, the pandemic created a lot of questions about the future of many companies. For example, in the case of the tourism industry, it would take a lot of time to return to pre-coronavirus levels. Furthermore, airlines are also struggling to avoid the worst-case scenario, as the pandemic decimated the industry. Also, it won’t be easy to regain the trust of customers.

Hopefully, companies in different parts of the world are working round the clock not only to create the vaccines but also to produce more vaccines. It is not surprising as governments are willing to buy hundreds of millions of doses in 2021.