Asian stock markets edged lower on Wednesday, with airlines taking the biggest hit in the aftermath of the deadly Brussels bombings, dealers said.
The losses tracked a sell-off in tourism-linked stocks in the United States and Europe on Tuesday after explosions in the Brussels subway and Zaventem airport just outside the Belgian capital, claimed by the Islamic State group, left around 35 dead and more than 200 injured.
However, the main US and European markets recovered from early losses to finish little-changed on Tuesday, while overall declines in Asia were modest.
Bernard Aw, Singapore-based market analyst at IG, said that the initial market reaction to the bombings was expected, but that investors quickly retraced losses.
“This is because the impact of terror attacks on financial markets has become less and less dramatic in recent years, compared with the aftermath of the September 11 attacks,” Aw wrote in a note to clients, referring to the events of 2001 in the US.
“Asia may be more resilient today, where cautious trading should prevail.”
At around 0240 GMT, Sydney-listed Qantas was down 0.61 per cent, Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong lost 0.25 per cent, All Nippon Airways dropped 0.51 per cent in Tokyo and Seoul-listed Korean Air Lines declined 1.64 per cent.
The losses came after a sell-off in travel and tourism related stocks during New York and European trading. In the US, Expedia, TripAdvisor and Priceline sank after the blasts.
