ASIAN SHARES DIP AS US SELLOFF CONTINUES

Asian markets look set to continue a downward path on Tuesday after soaring global coronavirus cases and shrinking hopes for a U.S. stimulus deal took a toll on Wall Street and drove up the US dollar, Pete Schroeder reported for Reuters. 

Australia's ASX 200 opened down about 0.6%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 futures were up 0.04%. The Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.09% on Monday. The futures contract was down 0.25% from that close. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures were up 0.1%. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe was down 1.52%. 

US indices fell sharply to open the week’s trading, as anxiety over new record daily COVID-19 cases in the United States, Russia and France weighed on investor appetite. “The challenge for markets is that in most cases they are already pricing a very strong economic bounce. The new outbreaks, and the potential for a double-dip recession, directly contradict this assumption,” Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney. 

The sharp decline set a bleak tone ahead of a busy third-quarter earnings season, with large US tech firms like Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., and Google-parent Alphabet Inc. set to report. Microsoft Corp MSFT.O reports its results Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average 650.19 points, or 2.29%. The S&P 500 lost 64.42 points, or 1.86%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 189.35 points, or 1.64%.