Asian shares ease on stimulus-driven concerns

Asian share markets reversed from high grounds to trade weakly on Tuesday. Investors’ dampened sentiment was brought by concerns about possible impasses that U.S. President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package may encounter. In addition to this, the downbeat session dragged U.S. Treasury yields to three-week lows.

Majority of Asian markets traded negatively, with South Korea and Hong Kong declining the most as both indexes recorded a 1.7% drop. Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei plunged 0.6%, while Chinese stocks traded 1.5% lower.  MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan saw a 0.7% decline.

Despite conflicting views over the size of Biden’s stimulus package, policymakers in the United States agreed that their top priority is to deliver coronavirus vaccines to Americans.