Asian shares slide as rising virus cases haunt reopenings

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares tumbled Thursday as reports of rising numbers of coronavirus infections in many countries raised fears over risks from reopenings from pandemic shutdowns.

Asian markets had been expected to track Wall Street's retreat after the Federal Reserve signaled a long path to recovery from the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic.

But fresh news on the virus front pulled benchmarks still lower. Futures for the S&P 500 dropped 1.7% and the Dow industrials future contract lost 2.1%.

In the U.S., Texas and Florida were among the states reporting jumps in the number of coronavirus cases after precautions were relaxed last month. The total number of U.S. cases has surpassed 2 million.

Globally, India reported a record number of nearly 10,000 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours with health services in the worst-hit cities of Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai becoming swamped by the rising infections.

In South Korea, the latest 45 new cases came in a weekslong weekslong resurgence that health authorities said they fear will develop into a massive wave.

Such developments have raised alarm, said Stephen Innes of AxiCorp.

“After all, a secondary outbreak is nothing to sneeze at as traders remain in a state of risk limbo watching risk assets for signs of continuation or stall," Innes said in a commentary.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 sank 2.8% to 22,472.91, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 skidded 3.1% to 5,960.60.

South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.9% to 2,176.78 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 2% to 24,556.72. The Shanghai Composite shed 0.8% to 2,920.90.

Overnight, stocks ended a bumpy day mostly lower on Wall Street, though gains for several big technology companies helped push the Nasdaq above 10,000 for the first time. It gained...