Asian shares mostly higher as US reports surging virus cases

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly higher Monday in Asia despite reports that the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. and worldwide has surged sharply.

Tokyo, Sydney and Shanghai logged modest gains and Hong Kong slipped.

Australian shares got a boost from reports that consumer spending has rebounded more quickly than expected, analysts said.

“However, that partly reflects pent-up demand and the strong support from government initiatives. Employment income has slumped and we only expect spending to return to pre-virus levels next year,” Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said in a report.

Robust availability of funding thanks to massive government and central bank stimulus appears to be offsetting jitters over the pandemic, analysts said.

Prices are already considered relatively high and “out of whack" with earnings expectations, Mizuho Bank said in a commentary. “And so, investors may be increasingly nervous about being caught on the wrong side of ‘irrational exuberance,' “ it said.

On top of that, the “sheer speed and amplitude of the equity market rebound ... from the depths of the March sell-off may also counsel some patience rather than haste; prudently pausing to take profits for the quarter," it said.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index edged 0.1% higher to 22,499.32, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.3% to 24,581.34. The Kospi in South Korea slipped 0.1% to 2,138.42, while in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 picked up 0.3% to 5,959.70.

The Shanghai Composite index also added 0.3% to 2,975.57. Shares rose in Taiwan and Singapore but fell in Jakarta.

The World Health Organization on Sunday reported the largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases by its count, at more than 183,000 new cases in the previous 24 hours. The UN health agency...