Global equities tumble after Covid-19 fears and US jitters

S&P 500 and TOPIX plunge

Stockmarkets fell yesterday (26 October) following concerns about new lockdown measures across Europe and yet another failure to agree on a new US stimulus package.

The S&P 500 fell by almost 3% yesterday afternoon before closing down 1.9%, marking its worst day in a month following fears over a record surge in new US coronavirus cases just a week before the US Presidential Election. However, Nancy Pelosi, Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, expressed optimism about renewing the fiscal deal for jobless benefits which expired at the end of July. The sharp drop in Wall Street dragged down equities in much of the Asia-Pacific region. Japan's TOPIX index fell 0.2% on Tuesday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.9% and Australia's S&P/ASX...