Asian markets mixed after modest gains on Wall St
BANGKOK (AP) — Asian markets were mixed on Friday after major indexes edged higher on Wall Street, preserving their gains for the week.
Hong Kong and Shanghai fell while Sydney and Seoul advanced. Tokyo was closed for a holiday.
Surges in coronavirus cases around the region are prompting governments to tighten pandemic restrictions that are expected to slow business activity and keep travel to a minimum.
Thailand reported a daily record of 14,575 cases, with 114 deaths, as a stricter set of limits went into effect in many areas. The central bank, meanwhile, has said this latest, worst outbreak could cause the economy to contract by 2% this year, instead of the recovery it had earlier forecast.
The SET in Bangkok fell 0.4%. In Seoul, the Kospi was 0.2% higher, at 3,255.27, while Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 gained less than 0.1% to 7,388.70.
Regional trading was muted, with markets in Japan closed for a holiday ahead of the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 1.1% to 27,424.89 and the Shanghai Composite index gave up 0.7% to 3,548.91.
The declines came as Bloomberg reported regulators were planning more penalties for ride-sharing giant Didi, whose shares in New York sank 11.3% on Thursday.
Didi's shares have declined more than 25% since they began trading in New York last month, amid a crackdown by the Chinese government on technology companies.
“Asian equities traded sideways on Friday, mirroring choppy price action on Wall Street overnight," Anderson Alves of ActivTrades said in a commentary. “However, pandemic concerns continue to weigh on the market."
On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 4,367.48. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1% to 34,823.35. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.4% to 14,684.60.
All three indexes remain...