SINGAPORE - Asia shares, US stock futures and oil fell on Monday as rising US-China tensions over the coronavirus - and growing unease at the gulf between asset prices and grim economic reality - turned investors cautious.
Simgapore's Straits Times Index sank 3.2 per cent after the opening bell. It was trading down 2.4 per cent at 9:16am local time. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added to the jitters with remarks on Sunday, when he said there was"a significant amount of evidence" that the new coronavirus emerged from a Chinese laboratory.
"The risk of a pullback has increased this week," said Chris Weston, head of research at Melbourne brokerage Pepperstone. The Korean won sat by a one-week low at 1,224.76 per dollar, after an exchange of gunfire between North Korea and South Korea at the Demilitarized Zone raised tensions, a day after North Korean state media reported Kim Jong Un's first public appearance since April 11.
US crude tumbled over US$1 a barrel, or 6 per cent. West Texas Intermediate crude futures last sat at US$18.59 per barrel, down US$1.19, while Brent futures were down 2.4 per cent, or 64 cents, at US$25.80.