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Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mostly down on Friday morning, ending the week on a cautious note as investors digested valuations from a record rally in global stocks earlier in the week and a stubborn second wave of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and Europe.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 inched down 0.07% by 10:49 PM ET (2:49 AM GMT). South Korea’s KOSPI inched down 0.06% as the country reported 583 daily cases on Thursday, the first time the number has exceeded 500 since early March.
In Australia, the ASX 200 was down 0.63%. China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement released earlier in the day that China will impose temporary anti-dumping measures on wine imported from Australia starting Nov. 28.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged down 0.15%.
China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.41% while the Shenzhen Component was up 0.38%. Data released earlier in the day showed that Chinese industrial profit (CIP) rose 28.20% year-on-year in October, against September’s 10.10% growth. The CIP rose 0.7% year-to-date during the same month, against 2.4% contraction seen in September.
Global shares continued a pullback from the rally earlier in the week, with AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) likely to put its CVOID-19 vaccine candidate AZD 1222 though an additional global trial in order to clear confusion surrounding the positive results from the current study announced earlier in the week, Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot said.
Optimism over positive results from other candidates, including offerings from Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) and Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) has been dampened by the ever-rising numbers of COVID-19 cases globally, however. Vaccine developers continue to struggle with the logistics of producing and transporting the vaccines, while the number of cases continues to rise and threaten the global economic recovery.
“With global case numbers having now topped 60 million… there is certainly some rough terrain ahead for the global recovery, and that can create economic scarring,” ANZ Bank analysts said in a memo.
Some investors remained optimistic, however.
“Vaccine optimism continues to stir momentum going into December that could confront a slowing economy and liquidity difficulties … yet, the expectation of a full reopening of the global economy remains firmly priced,” Medley Global Advisors managing director for global macro strategy Ben Emon told Bloomberg.
Almost a month after the Nov. 3 presidential election, the uncertainty over the result is finally starting to lift, with incumbent President-elect Joe Biden taking the first steps towards his transition to power earlier in the week. However, incumbent President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would relinquish power only if the Electoral College affirms Biden’s win. Trump also said he may never formally concede defeat and could skip Biden’s inauguration.
