The major stock indices of Japan and Australia skidded in today's Asia-Pacific stocks trade. The exchanges of other countries are closed due to Lunar New Year celebrations. Moreover, China's equity markets will open only on Thursday next week. Hong Kong's stock market will resume trade on Tuesday.

Japan's Nikkei 225 is down 0.14% today. This can be attributed to rather low trading activity, which forced most market participants to lock in profits rather than to continue trading. Notably, earlier the index climbed to its highest level over the past thirty years. That is why investors became more cautious in anticipation of a possible downward correction. However, there has been no correction yet, and market participants are in no hurry to actively engage in trading.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.63% due to the news about the worsening epidemiological situation in the country. In particular, the authorities announced their intentions to introduce restrictive measures for at least five days in the second most populous city - Melbourne. The reason was a surge in new coronavirus cases. According to the media, this is a forced measure, since a quarantine hotel reported 13 infected people. Clearly, the market reaction was negative.

Investor sentiment in the European stock markets is also negative today. The main stock indices edged lower amid downbeat economic statistics in the region. In addition, market participants are concerned that the mass vaccination process is rather slow. Nevertheless, there is some positive news: the UK index is gaining ground, albeit not so rapidly.

As for macroeconomic statistics from Britain, the reports are far from perfect. In particular, the country's gross domestic product fell considerably last year. Britain's coronavirus-ravaged economy suffered a record 9.9% crash. Nevertheless, in the fourth quarter of 2020, the UK economy was able to recover, but this was not enough to offset the losses incurred over the previous three periods.

The STOXX Europe 600 index fell by 0.12% to 410.84 in early trading. However, this level is not so low when compared to the average value of the previous year.

Germany's DAX Index fell by 0.65%. France's CAC 40 dropped by 0.13%. Italy's FTSE MIB Index sank by 0.41%. Spain's IBEX 35 plunged down by 0.97%, the biggest one-day drop. By contrast, London's FTSE 100 was up 0.08% in early trade.