Asian stocks sink after China coronavirus resurgence
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets retreated Friday after a resurgence of coronavirus infections in China and a rise in cases in Southeast Asia.
Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Australia declined. South Korea advanced.
Overnight, Wall Street closed higher. Gains for tech stocks offset losses elsewhere.
Optimism about the rollout of coronavirus vaccines was dented by a spike in infections in China, where the disease had been under control. The government is testing millions of people in Beijing and some other cities and called on the public to avoid traveling during February's Lunar New Year holiday.
That has “raised some concerns among investors who, after a slow start to the global vaccine rollout, are debating how fast economies can vaccinate the most vulnerable and start returning to business as usual,” said Stephen Innes of Axi in a report.
The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.4% to 3,606.49 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo sank 0.4% to 28,646.99. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.6% to 29,749.58.
The Kospi in South Korea, where the increase in virus cases has slowed, advanced 0.5% to 3,179.49.
The S&P-ASX 200 in Sydney shed 0.3% to 6,803.20. New Zealand advanced while Singapore and Indonesia declined.
On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index ended up less than 0.1% at 3,853.07 on Thursday after a day of chopping trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost less than 0.1% to 31,176.01.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 0.6% to 13,530.91 after traders bid up shares in Big Tech stocks, including Apple, Amazon and Facebook. That helped outweigh losses in energy, bank and other stocks.
Stocks have risen on optimism the rollout of vaccines developed by U.S., European and Chinese drug companies would allow economies to return to normal.
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