Asian Markets follow Crude Lower

The Asian and other regional financial indices were trading lower on Tuesday. Traders are worried about the collapse with the U.S. WTI crude oil contract and with reports that North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un is gravely ill.

According to news reports, a high ranking U.S. official with direct knowledge said that they are watching “intelligence” that the Kim is in “grave danger after a surgery.”

The Asian benchmark, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 is down 1.58 percent as shares of Fast Retailing fell two percent. Softbank is also down two percent. In Tokyo, the Topix index is down 0.89 percent.

The South Korean Kospi index is down 1.73 percent and the Korean won has fallen lower against the U.S. dollar. The Hang Seng index, in Hong Kong, is down 2.28 percent.

In China, the Shanghai composite was down nearly one percent and the smaller Shenzhen composite lost 1.1 percent.

Elsewhere in the Asian region, the Australian ASX 200 was down 1.8 percent as most sub-sectors were trading down.

Asian Traders Digest the RBA Meeting Minutes

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) published their monetary policy account from their April meeting. The RBA remains “committed to supporting jobs, incomes and businesses” as they insulate against the Covid-19 outbreak.

The RBA also noted that the nation’s “banks were in a strong position to withstand the large economic shock” that will be seen with the pandemic.

Traders watch Oil Price Action and Waning Demand

The Covid-19 pandemic has dealt the global economy a huge blow. This has evaporated the demand for oil. Global travel is restricted and factories are closed.

Even with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-member allies led by Russia reducing production by 9.7 million barrels per day, global supply continues to rise.

The U.S. International Energy Agency (IEA), has said in its monthly report, that demand in April, should fall by 29 million barrels per day. This has not been seen since 1995.