Indonesia's rupiah was the worst hit of Southeast Asia's emerging currencies on Friday, as rising domestic coronavirus infections and fears of a new wave globally sent stock and currency markets across the region sharply lower. The rupiah sank as much as 1.5% against the dollar and is on course for its biggest intraday fall since early May, while the Thai baht and Malaysian ringgit lost 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively. The central bank said it intervened in the spot and domestic non-deliverable forward markets to stabilise the rupiah. The currency last traded 1.2% weaker. Stock markets across the region also fell sharply, with Thailand among the worst hit, down 2%.
Official figures show that the British economy shrank by a colossal 20.4% in April, the first full month that the country was in its coronavirus lockdown.
The Office for National Statistics said Friday that all areas of the economy were hit, in particular pubs, education, health and car sales.
Australian stocks dropped 1.57%, but shares in China erased losses to trade 0.03% higher after Beijing's pledge to continue with capital market reforms.
The benchmark Nikkei average settled 0.75% lower at 22,305.48, its weakest close since June 1, erasing some of the earlier losses on a positive lead from U.S. futures.
For the week, the Nikkei was down 2.4%, logging its biggest decline in seven weeks.
In the currency market, the safe-haven yen stood firm on renewed pessimism over a quick economic recovery, with the dollar/yen hitting 106.58 overnight, a level unseen in a month.
As a stronger yen hurts Japanese manufacturers' profits made abroad when repatriated, shares of export-oriented automakers remained under pressure, with Honda Motor shedding 1.8% and Subaru falling 1.2%.
The Indian rupee, on Friday, opened below the psychological 76-markas the sell-off pressure from the foreign funds picked up due to the global equity meltdown.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 76.10 against the US dollar, down 32 paise. At the time of filing this copy, the rupee was trading at 76.07, down 29 paise.
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After yesterday's and today's crash, the markets are back in the bear market territory -- down 22% from highest
Pressure from FII sell off.
Indian equities, along with other major global equity markets, crashed onFridayas the markets wokeup to the harsh realisation that novel coronavirus pandemic and its impact may be far from over.
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Banks, Financial Services, Media and Auto stocks worst hit on Nifty 50
All Sensex constituents, except for Sunpharma in red
Sensex now at 32,470.20, down 1068.17 or 3.18%
All constituents, except Nestle India, trading in red in pre open
Australian, Korean, Vietnamese and Singapore indices are the worst hit, crashing by over 3%. Japanese indices, on the other hand, are trading with losses in the range of 2%-3%.
Till June 10, the BSE Sensex had rallied by 32% from its March 23 lows, in what can be seen as classic irrational exuberance at a time when corporate earnings have shrunk and country is going through one of its worst recessions in the history.
On the other hand, Dow Jones Industrial Average of US had rallied by 48% during the same time.
The bottom fishing by the investors, who were flush with liquidity due to massive stimulus packages announced across the globe led to this rally.
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Ahead of Indian markets opening, SGX Nifty has crashed by 271 points (2.74%). SGX Nifty is a derivative of the Nifty index traded on the Singapore Stock Exchange. Trading hours remain b/w 0630 hours and 2330 hours IST. Last night SGX Nifty had crashed over 5%
Gold prices held steady on Friday as downward pressure from a stronger dollar countered rising safe-haven demand supported by gloomy economic projections and renewed fears over a second wave in COVID-19 infections.
Australian shares dropped 3% for a second straight session on Friday, tracking losses on Wall Street as investor fears over a possible resurgence of COVID-19 infections were aggravated by the dour outlook from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 3% or 177.5 points to 5,783.1 by 0044 GMT, having closed 3.1% weaker on Thursday. The index is set to fall nearly 2% this week, its biggest weekly drop since April 24.
Energy stocks plunged as much as 6.1% to their lowest level in three weeks and accounted for most of the losses on the benchmark as crude prices fell.
Shares of Oil Search Ltd and Worley Ltd slumped 8.3% each.
Financial stocks dived 4.6% to their lowest since June 3. The so-called "Big Four" banks lost between 3.5% and 5.4%.
Elsewhere, Australia's mining stocks dropped 2.8% as prices of iron ore, copper, aluminium and other industrial metals slumped.
Hong Kong stocks plunged in the first few minutes of trade Friday morning following a huge sell-off on Wall Street fuelled by worries about the economic recovery from lockdowns and on concerns about a second wave of infections in parts of the United States.
The Hang Seng Index tumbled 2.29 percent, or 559.45 points, to 23,920.70.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index sank 1.51 percent, or 44.09 points, to 2,876.80, and the Shenzhen Composite Index on China's second exchange dropped 1.99 percent, or 37.04 points to 1,828.26.
The safe-haven Swiss franc and the yen held on to gains on Friday while the U.S. dollar also held firm against riskier currencies after global stock prices tumbled on renewed doubts over the prospects of a quick recovery in the global economy.
The Swiss franc rose to 0.94395 per dollar, having hit a three-month high of 0.9376 on Thursday.
The franc has recovered its lost ground against the euro over the past two weeks to trade at 1.0665 to the euro .
The yen also rose to 106.79 yen per dollar. It hit a one-month high of 106.58 on Thursday, having gained 3.1% from a 2-1/2-month low hit just a week ago.
Oil prices slid early on Friday, extending heavy overnight losses on a surge in U.S. coronavirus cases this week that has raised the prospect of a second wave of the outbreak slamming demand in the world's biggest consumer of crude and fuel.
West Texas Intermediate was down $1.32, or nearly 4%, at $35.02 a barrel by 0011 GMT, after slumping more than 8% on Thursday. Brent crude was down $1.15, or 3%, at $37.40 a barrel, having dropped nearly 8% the previous session.
A rally off April's lows has come to a shuddering halt this week as the market faced the reality that the coronavirus pandemic may be far from over globally, with cases in the United States alone passing 2 million this week.
Brent is heading for its first weekly decline in seven, dropping about 12%, while U.S. crude is heading for a loss of around 4% in its second consecutive weekly drop.
Tokyo stocks dropped more than 2.8 percent in early trade following a plunge in US shares on revived worries about the coronavirus and concerns about overheating equity prices.
The benchmark Nikkei dropped 2.84 percent or 637.19 points to 21,835.72 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 2.85 percent or 45.35 points at 1,543.57.
In early trends of sentiment shift, foreign funds, that control about 30% of India's equity markets, were net seller for past two days -- selling a net of Rs 1,724 crore in two session. Prior to these session, they were net buyers everyday in June.
Wall Street tumbled in a broad sell-off on Thursday, with the Dow plunging well over 5%, as a cautionary economic forecast from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the prospect of a possible resurgence of COVID-19 infections put investors in risk-off mode.
The S&P 500 and the Dow were on course for their worst day since March 18, when markets were shocked by the abrupt economic lockdowns put in place to curb the coronavirus pandemic. The Nasdaq was set to snap a three-day streak of record closing highs.
At the conclusion of its two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve released its first pandemic-era economic outlook, after which Chair Jerome Powell warned of a "long road" to recovery.
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Foot traffic at retail stores last week was solidly within 20% of 2019 levels, according to cellphone data company Unacast, while time management firms Homebase and Kronos said more people were working across industries. At the April peak of social-distancing restrictions, activity was down in excess of 50%.
Weekly unemployment data pointed in the same direction on Thursday, with initial claims for jobless benefits falling last week and continuing claims declining for the week ended May 30, a possible sign that reopened businesses are bringing back some workers.
But the regional variation in the retail traffic numbers was striking. About a third of U.S. states, on a line from Montana southeast to Alabama, showed a full recovery, according to Unacast data.
Meanwhile, the coastal and mostly Democratic-leaning states that were hit earlier and harder by the pandemic have seen little rebound. Since a March 13 national emergency was declared, 19 states have not had a day in which estimated retail traffic reached 2019 levels. Fourteen of them are on the coasts.
Those states, however, on the whole have seen steadier progress in tamping down the growth in new coronavirus cases, according to a Reuters analysis of the week-to-week change in case growth.
Of three week-to-week changes measured over the last 28 days, states showing the least recovery in retail foot traffic reduced the growth in coronavirus cases an average of two of the previous three weeks. The average for other states was just 1.3 weeks of the past three.
The conflicting data around the path of the economic recovery and the trajectory of the virus will likely vex analysts and policymakers for weeks to come.
That puzzle was at the heart of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's remarks following the end of the U.S. central bank's latest policy meeting on Wednesday. Powell said high unemployment could linger for years as the country wages a state-by-state, city-by-city fight to keep the virus at bay until a vaccine or other broad treatment is found.
Mexico's peso was the biggest loser among Latin American currencies on Thursday, pushed lower by tumbling oil prices, with regional stocks falling in tow after the Federal Reserve's sobering assessment of a U.S. economic recovery. The dollar surged on safe-haven demand after the U.S. central bank said the impact of the coronavirus pandemic will be felt for years, quashing hopes of a quick recovery.