Major stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region traded lower on Tuesday as the newly detected coronavirus strain renewed concerns related to the pandemic, prompting more than a dozen countries to temporarily halt travel with the United Kingdom.
However, it is "very likely" that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is effective against both the known and the new virus strain.
Major European stock markets traded mixed at the opening bell on Tuesday as coronavirus-related fears resurged due to the newly detected, more transmissible virus strain.
The European Union yesterday approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, allowing the inoculation process to start before the end of the year in all 27 member states.
On the data front, the British economy saw the largest quarterly GDP jump since 1955, when the results started being tracked.
Stocks on Wall Street traded mostly higher on Tuesday after both the House and Senate approved the 900 billion dollars coronavirus stimulus package.
The Nikkei 225 closed 1.04 percent lower, while the S&P/ASX 200 ended the session 1.05 percent in the negative territory. The Shanghai Composite lost 1.50 percent, while the Shenzhen Composite concurrently fell 1.26 percent. The Kospi Composite dropped 1.49 percent, and the Hang Seng tumbled 1.06 percent at the same time.
The DAX gained 0.53 percent at the open. The CAC 40 advanced 0.35 percent. On the other hand, the FTSE 100 declined 0.52 percent. The euro fell 0.19 percent against the dollar to sell for 1.22088, while the pound dropped 0.22 percent to go for 1.34250 dollars.
The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.29 percent at 4:22 am ET, the S&P was up 0.08 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.06 percent at the same time.