Asian Stock Markets Retreat on New COVID-19 Variant

Asian stock markets retreated Friday on reports of a new infectious COVID-19 variant from South Africa that may overcome immunizations. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen tweeted Friday the organization will propose an "emergency brake" on air travel from southern African states. Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo all fell sharply back, while Mumbai's Sensex index led decliners, down 2.9%.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower and declined through the day, finishing off 2.5%, with travel-related issues leading the downside. The benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 747.66 to 28,751.62, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 218 to seven.

The TSEREIT, an index of Tokyo-listed real estate investment trusts (REITS), declined 0.2% on the day.

The Nikkei 225 is up 4.8% year-to-date.

In other news, core consumer prices in Tokyo rose 0.3% year-over-year in November, the Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications reported.

Also, Japan's Cabinet on Friday approved a record 36.0 trillion yen ($314 billion) supplementary budget for fiscal 2021 to fund the government's economic stimulus packages, reported Kyodo News.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index opened lower and declined steadily through the day, finishing off 2.7%. Also undercutting sentiments were media reports that Beijing officials have asked China-based online ride-hailing giant Didi Global (DIDI) to delist from Wall Street, citing data security issues.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 659.64 to 24,080.52, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 59 to one. The Hang Seng TECH Index fell back 3.2% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index declined 3.3%.

The Hang Seng is down 11.6% year-to-date.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.6% to 3,564.09.

On the other exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI fell 1.5%; the Taiwan TWSE declined 1.6%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 1.7%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 1.7%, and the Thai Set declined 2.3%.