By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Asian stocks were down on Monday morning, with grim milestones in global COVID-19 figures putting a dent in in the start of the week for investors.
The total number of global COVID-19 cases topped the 10 million mark, whilst more than 500,000 deaths have been recorded globally as of June 29, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The numbers have also dented expectations of a quick victory in the war against COVID-19, with some investors expecting a slower and more painful economic recovery.
“The recovery is going to be much slower and much more uneven than most people believe... markets are priced for a much sharper V-shaped recovery which we don’t think is likely,” David Hunt, president and CEO of PGIM Inc., told Bloomberg.
Investors will also be looking to the testimonies of both Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday for further clues on the U.S. economic recovery.
China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.54% by 10:40 PM ET (3:39 AM GMT) and the Shenzhen Component fell 0.38%. China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported that the country’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for June was 50.4, just above the threshold indicating economic growth but below the previous month’s reading of 50.6.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Indedx fell 0.49%, with China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee widely expected to pass national security laws for both Hong Kong and Macau on Tuesday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225was down 1.60%, after the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry recording a 12.3% drop in May retail sales year-on-year earlier in the day. The drop was sharper than the 11.6% fall predicted in forecasts prepared by Investing.com.
South Korea’s KOSPI fell 1.20%. Down Under, the ASX 200 slid 1.62% with the country’s second populous state of Victoria struggling to control a spike in COVID-19 cases.