Asian Shares Hit By Surging Coronavirus Cases, U.S. Stimulus Woes

The sharp stock market decline set a bleak tone ahead of a busy third-quarter earnings season, with large U.S. tech firms like Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Google-parent Alphabet Inc set to report. Microsoft Corp reports its results Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.29% overnight, the S&P 500 lost 1.86%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.64%.

The dollar was holding largely steady, moving just a touch lower to trade at 92.951 against a basket of six major currencies.

Much of the trading in currency markets, as well as other asset markets, was buffeted by the renewed coronavirus fears.

In early Asia, oil prices managed to staunch an extended sell-off though the outlook was weak due to the virus-induced worries over demand. Brent crude was up 12 cents, or 0.3%, at $40.58 a barrel by 0039 GMT, having dropped more than 3% overnight. U.S. oil was up 13 cents, or 03%, at $38.69 a barrel, after also declining more than 3% on Monday.

The safe-haven Spot gold added 0.3% to $1,907.41 an ounce Tuesday morning.

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