Asian shares climb after S&P 500 record, despite virus woes

Shares started out the week on a strong footing after the Standard & Poors 500 hit a fresh high on Friday, with robust data from Japan and China fueling optimism over economic recoveries even as coronavirus caseloads surpass earlier records.

Stock benchmarks rose Monday in Hong Kong, Tokyo and most other regional markets.

Strong Japanese growth data added to confidence the economy is recovering, despite burgeoning waves of coronavirus cases in many parts of the world including Japan. The world’s third largest economy grew at a 21% annual pace in the last quarter, the first quarter of growth in nearly a year.

Investors also were encouraged by Chinese economic data showing a continued recovery in October.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.8% to 25,852.74 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong picked up 0.4% to 26,263.41. The Kospi in South Korea surged 1.9% to 2,541.04 and in Australia the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.2% to 6,484.30. The Shanghai Composite index gained 1% to 3,342.23.

Shares were higher in other regional markets.

China’s factory output rose 6.9% over a year earlier in October, holding steady at September’s rate, government data showed Monday. Retail sales gained 4.3% over a year ago, up 1 percentage point from the previous month. Investment in factories and other fixed assets rose 1.8% in the first 10 months of 2020, up 1 percentage point from the first nine months.

“The national economy sustained the momentum of steady recovery,” said a government statement.

The Japanese data, while strong, are distorted by the size of the earlier declines, noted Robert Carnell of ING Economics, adding “the economy contracted 28.8% in the second quarter of 2020 and still remains well below pre-COVID levels."

In quarterly terms, the 7.9% contraction in April-June was...