Asian Stocks, Oil Fall as Second Wave Fears Grow

A pedestrian wearing a face mask walks near an overpass with an electronic board showing stock information, following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China, on March 17, 2020. Aly Song/Reuters

SYDNEY—Asian shares stumbled on Monday and oil prices slipped as fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections in Beijing sent investors scurrying for safe-havens while underwhelming data from China further weighed on sentiment.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.3 percent with Australian shares off 0.1 percent and South Korea easing 0.3 percent. Japan’s Nikkei faltered 0.7 percent.