GLOBAL stocks mostly fell yesterday as renewed concerns about harsh coronavirus curbs in China rattled investor sentiment, while oil prices gyrated as Saudi Arabia denied a report that exporters were weighing a production increase.

China’s first coronavirus deaths in six months sparked fears officials would reimpose strict, economically painful restrictions to fight outbreaks across the world’s second-biggest economy.

Some of Beijing’s largest shopping malls were closed on Sunday, while others reduced opening hours or banned table service at restaurants as officials urged residents to avoid non-essential travel.

“No one can tell whether (Chinese President) Xi Jinping would pull back from the reopening plans, which would be another disaster for the Chinese stocks, and for the investor confidence,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said.

Paris, London, Frankfurt and Milan all ended in the red yesterday, while Wall Street also lost ground.

The fall in European and US stocks came after most Asian markets including Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and Shanghai ended lower, although Bangkok, Tokyo and Wellington were up.

“There is a bit of a risk off sentiment today,” Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones said.

“There’s no US data, but there are some headlines about the worsening Covid-19 trends in China, which is adding to global growth concerns,” he added.

US investors expect subdued trading during the week, which includes the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.

This is traditionally a “quiet” stretch for markets, Kourkafas said.

Oil prices plunged more than 5% early in the session following a Wall Street Journal report that said Saudi Arabia, which co-leads the Opec+ cartel along with Russia, and other members were considering an “increase of up to 500,000 barrels a day”.

However, the official Saudi Press Agency said last night that energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman “categorically denies” the report.

“It is well known, and no secret, that Opec+ does not discuss any decisions ahead of its meetings,” SPA quoted Prince Abdulaziz as saying.

The next Opec+ meeting is scheduled for December 4.

Among individual companies, Disney jumped 6.3% as it ousted Bob Chapek as chief executive and said it would bring back long-time former chief Bob Iger, as it struggles to boost the financial performance of its streaming business. – AFP, November 22, 2022.