* South Korea stocks fall 1.6%
* S. Korea govt signs deals to provide vaccines
* Philippine stock markets were shut due to a holiday
* Thai cenbank cancels briefing on currency measures
By Anushka Trivedi
Dec 8 (Reuters) - Most Asian stock markets struggled to gain
on Tuesday and South Korean shares slumped as concern over a
wave of local coronavirus infections hit one of the countries
viewed as having done best at quelling outbreaks.
The mood was downbeat after the United States imposed
financial sanctions on some Chinese officials on Monday, raising
more fears about relations between the two countries, while
losses on Wall Street overnight set the tone in early trading.
Malaysia .KLSE and Indonesia .JKSE shares gained about
0.3%, but Chinese shares .SSEC slipped 0.2% and Seoul .KS11
fell 1.6%.
South Korea reported 594 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday,
and health authorities predicted daily cases would hover between
550 and 750 this week, and possibly spike to as much as 900 next
week. Global efforts to combat the health crisis, both with
vaccines and economic stimulus, are at the heart of the debate
for markets, with investors worried overnight by a report that
U.S. drugmaker Pfizer PFE.N would not be able to deliver extra
vaccines until the middle of next year. Pfizer's vaccine also has a complicated distribution system,
which requires consistent ultra-cold storage that could make it
hard to spread across hotter and lower-income countries with
weak infrastructure.
"You've got stimulus discussions in the U.S., which are
stalling at the moment...then there is the issue that the
vaccine maybe not being as readily accessible as had been
initially hoped," said Mitul Kotecha, senior EM strategist at TD
Securities.
"So when you add that to the sanction news, these are all
the factors weighing on the markets today."
On currency markets, the yuan CNY=CFXS fell for a second
straight day, while the won KRW=KFTC slipped as authorities
warned the spike in cases next week could "collapse" the
country's health system. As South Korea battles the third and largest wave of
infections yet, the government on early Tuesday announced deals
with four companies to provide vaccines for 44 million people.
The Thai baht THB=TH strengthened 0.1% to hit an 11-month
high, while the Taiwanese dollar TWD=TP gained as much as 1%.
The Thai central bank cancelled a briefing it was supposed
to hold on Wednesday to lay out measures to curb the currency's
appreciation as Thai exporters expressed the baht's firmness
would pose a challenge for recovery. Thailand's 10-year government bond yields are down 2.5
basis points at 1.275%
** Top gainers on the Thailand's SETI .SETI : Max Metal
Corporation PCL MAX.BK up 100% and B-52 Capital PCL B52.BK
up 26.3%
** Top losers on the Singapore STI .STI include: Sembcorp
Industries Ltd SCIL.SI down 2.23% and Jardine Cycle & Carriage
Ltd JCYC.SI down 1.38%
Asia stock indexes and
currencies at 0807 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCK STOCKS
DAILY YTD % S YTD %
% DAILY
%
Japan JPY= +0.01 +4.38 .N225 -0.30 11.88
China CNY=CFXS -0.11 +6.52 .SSEC -0.19 11.80
India INR=IN +0.14 -3.27 .NSEI 0.22 10.00
Indonesia IDR= +0.00 -1.42 .JKSE 0.23 -5.64
Malaysia MYR= -0.05 +0.42 .KLSE 0.25 2.40
Philippines PHP= +0.03 +5.22 .PSI - -7.83
S.Korea KRW=KFTC -0.30 +6.54 .KS11 -1.62 22.90
Singapore SGD= -0.12 +0.49 .STI -0.25 -12.54
Taiwan TWD=TP +0.06 +5.58 .TWII 0.73 19.70
Thailand THB=TH +0.13 -0.66 .SETI 2.05 -6.35