Investors in Asia are skeptical of the development of the corona pandemic. Battery suppliers, among others, came under pressure in the Far East.
The fear of another economic downturn in the face of renewed restrictions to contain the corona pandemic slowed the stock markets in the Far East on Wednesday. “There are fears that coronavirus infections could increase in colder weather. In addition, investors fear a delay in US economic stimulus programs as it was the massive economic package that supported the market,” said Fumio Matsumoto, chief strategist at broker Okasan Securities.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei index dropped 0.1 percent to 23,346 points after a long weekend in Japan. The Chinese stock exchange in Shanghai showed little change. The MSCI index for Asian stocks outside of Japan lost one percent.
Battery suppliers, among others, came under pressure in the Far East after Tesla boss Elon Musk announced a significant cut in prices for his electric cars. To this end, the main aim is to reduce the production costs for the batteries.
“Tesla will have more power in negotiating prices, and therefore the total cost of batteries will continue to decrease,” said Rho Woo-ho, an analyst at Meritz Securities. Panasonic shares lost almost four percent. The share price of the South Korean manufacturer LG Chem slipped 1.4 percent, the Chinese supplier CATL lost around two percent.
