Asian shares plunge as new coronavirus strain weighs

Asian markets extended their declines on Tuesday as shares deviated farther from their milestone peaks seen last week. The series of declines followed after investors were left anxious that a new coronavirus strain would restrain the global economy from recuperating.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan recorded a 0.75% decline, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index traded 0.63% lower. China’s benchmark index also performed poorly with a 0.35% drop. Australian shares, on the other hand, fell 1.21%.

Japan’s Nikkei plunged 0.77% in the afternoon session to hit its lowest level in two weeks. The index was greatly affected by investors’ move of taking profits from upbeat gains over the past months. Moreover, subdued sentiment dragged FTSE futures and S&P e-minis down with 0.14% and 0.29% losses respectively.