Asian shares mostly higher on optimism despite pandemic
TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Monday as bullish sentiment persisted despite continuing signs of economic damage from the pandemic.
Traders continued to be cheered by prospects that the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden will pump more aid into the U.S. economy, a move that will help Asia and other export-driven nations.
South Korea's Kospi jumped 2.5% in early trading to 3,230.15. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.7% to 6,714.20. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.2% to 27,945.18, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.4% to 3,584.97.
Japanese markets were closed for a national holiday. Adding to concerns over surging numbers of coronavirus infections, another new variant of the virus was reported over the weekend among several people who had arrived from Brazil.
“A resurgence of COVID infections, with evidence of a more infectious, new strains taking hold in Asia, beyond the West, suggests that recovery and vaccine hopes also ride the back of the Tiger,” said Venkateswaran Lavanya of Mizuho Bank in Singapore, referring to the peril of the situation.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has taken care to spare the world’s third largest economy as much as possible from risks of sinking further, even as coronavirus cases surge in recent weeks.
Suga’s declaration of a state of emergency for the Tokyo area, which kicked in Friday, focuses on asking restaurants to close at 8 p.m. Critics fear that’s not enough, and Suga’s support ratings are sinking. Cries for his ouster are likely to grow if the upward curb in infections doesn’t flatten in a month, as he has promised.
Wall Street ended last week with more milestones, largely shrugging off another discouraging jobs report. The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, its second straight...
