Asian shares extend losses on worries about spread of virus

Asian shares retreated on Tuesday, extending losses on growing worries over a new, potentially more infectious strain of the coronavirus.

The outbreaks are raising worries that the world economy may take even worse punishment.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 1.1% to 26,439.89. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng edged 0.8% lower to 26,092.17. South Korea's Kospi declined 0.8% to 2,753.89. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gave up 1.2% to 6,589.00. The Shanghai Composite index shed 1% to 3,388.16.

With new uncertainties, “investors appear to be treading more cautiously in Asia this morning, getting more selective and probably waiting for the new mutant virus to be better understood before aggressively diving back into the Airlines, Travel & Leisure vaccinated bandwagon,'' Stephen Innes of Axi said in a commentary.

Stocks, oil prices and Treasury yields fell on Monday, a sign investors are uneasy about the economy.

News of the new and potentially more infectious strain of the coronavirus has countries around the world restricting travel from the United Kingdom. That has traders worried about the possible economic consequences should it spread to other countries or prove resistant to vaccines being distributed now.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson put London and the southeast of England in a new level of restrictions after scientific advisers warned they had detected the new variant of the coronavirus. There is no evidence that the new strain’s mutations make it more deadly, but it seems to infect more easily than others.

The S&P 500 fell 1.4% to 3,694.92. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 30,216.45. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1% to 12,742.52. The Russell 2000 small-cap index gained 0.1% to 1,970.33.

Encouraging news out of Washington helped keep the...