Asian shares rise on recovery hopes, markets eye earnings

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares rose Monday amid some hopes for recovering economies slammed by the pandemic, as attention turned to upcoming company earnings.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.7 to finish at 28,822.29. Australia's S&P/ASX200 added 0.4% to 6,824.70. South Korea's Kospi gained 2.1% to 3,207.64. Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.8% to 29,983.32, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed, inching up less than 0.1% to 3,609.09.

Hopes are high that once the pandemic comes under some control, regional economies will make strong recoveries, with lockdowns easing, compared to last year, and vaccines rollouts starting in various places, including Singapore.

But worries that have rippled through markets over the coronavirus pandemic remain, including resurging cases in some parts of China and in Japan.

“Vaccine breakthroughs make it likely that life will become more functional again at some point in 2021, resulting in higher GDP growth and more robust corporate earnings,” said Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at Axi.

“But increasing global COVID19 infections, new variants of the virus, tightening social distancing restrictions and delays in vaccine rollouts in some places, all increase the near-term growth risks.”

Wall Street had a mixed finish last week for the major stock indexes.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% to 3,841.47, snapping a three-day winning streak. It notched a 1.9% gain for the week. The index was coming off two straight all-time highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6% to 30,996.98. The Nasdaq inched up 0.1% to 13,543.06, another record high. The Russell 2000 added 1.3% to 2,168.76.

Investors weighed another batch of company earnings reports Friday. The big theme in the early part of this earnings season...