Key Points: Stocks in Asia dipped in Tuesday morning trade.The Reserve Bank of Australia's minutes for its April meeting are set to be out around 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN. RBA Governor Philip Lowe is also expected to give a speech later in the day at 1:00 p.m. HK/SIN.The May contract for West Texas Intermediate, which expires Tuesday, dropped more than 100% overnight to settle at negative $37.63 per barrel. In the morning of Asian trading hours on Tuesday, the price of the May WTI contract bounced into positive territory.
Stocks in Asia declined in Tuesday morning trade as U.S. crude futures bounced back into positive territory.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.97% as shares of Familymart dropped more than 2%. The Topix index also shed 0.68%.
In South Korea, the Kospi slipped 0.4% while the Kosdaq index added 0.15%.
Meanwhile, stocks in Australia slipped, with the S&P/ASX 200 0.14% lower. The Reserve Bank of Australia's minutes for its April meeting are set to be out around 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.31% lower.
On the corporate news front, Virgin Australia announced Tuesday that the firm has entered voluntary administration to "recapitalise the business and help ensure it emerges in a stronger financial position on the other side of the COVID-19 crisis." That comes as the airline sector has taken a huge beating from the coronavirus pandemic, with travel heavily restricted as authorities globally race to stem the virus' spread.
Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 592.05 points lower at 23,650.44 while the S&P 500 slipped 1.8% to end its trading day at 2,823.16. The Nasdaq Composite pulled back 1% to close at 8,560.73.
The moves came as the May contract for West Texas Intermediate, which expires Tuesday, dropped more than 100% to settle at below zero — at negative $37.63 per barrel, a bizarre move tied to weak demand outlook and storage capacity issues.
In the morning of Asian trading hours on Tuesday, the price of the May WTI contract returned to positive territory, trading at $1.03 a barrel. The June U.S. crude contract was at $21.99 per barrel. International benchmark Brent crude futures traded at $26.09 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against as basket of its peers, was last at 100.014 as it crossed the 100 mark.
The Japanese yen traded at 107.74 per dollar after seeing levels below 107.4 last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6326, off levels above $0.635 seen yesterday.
What's on tap for Tuesday:
Australia: Reserve Bank of Australia's minutes for April meeting at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN
原文地址：https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/21/asia-markets-coronavirus-rba-meeting-minutes-oil-in-focus.html