Stocks in Asia Pacific traded lower on Monday morning, with major markets regionally closed for holidays.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 2.28% in early trade while the Kosdaq index shed 0.59%.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.78% lower.
Markets in China, Japan and Thailand are closed on Monday for holidays.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures fell in Sunday evening trade as traders weighed the reopening of the economy as the country continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic.
Developments on the global coronavirus outbreak will continue to be monitored by investors, with more than 3.4 million infected worldwide while at least 244,911 lives have been taken, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
“We are very confident that we are going to have a vaccine at the end of the year, by the end of the year,” Trump said. Still, public health officials have said a coronavirus vaccine could take a year to 18 months.
Meanwhile, tensions are rising between Washington and Beijing, with the Associated Press reporting that U.S. intelligence documents accused China of concealing the severity of the coronavirus outbreak to hoard medical supplies.
Oil prices fell in the morning of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 2.34% to $25.82 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also dropped 6.22% to $18.55 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 99.233 after declining from levels above 100 last week.
The Japanese yen traded at 106.78 per dollar after strengthening from levels above 107 last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6379 after declining from levels above $0.648 last week.
Source CNBC