Asian shares skid on virus worries, bleak BOJ survey

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly fell Wednesday, on continuing worries about the economic fallout from the pandemic as reports of coronavirus cases keep surging in various regions.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 4.5% to finish at 18,065.41.

U.S. futures were lower, with the contracts for the S&P 500 and Dow industrials both down about 3%.

Adding to the damage was the Bank of Japan's quarterly survey of business sentiment, called “tankan,” which highlighted the gloom over a likely recession. The world's third largest economy was shrinking late last year, before the outbreak began taking its toll in February.

Sentiment among Japan's large manufacturers fell in the January-March period, marking the fifth straight quarter of decline, according to the central bank. The tankan measures corporate sentiment by subtracting the number of companies saying business conditions are negative from those responding they are positive.

The key index, which measures sentiment among large manufacturers, fell to minus 8 from zero in October-December, the worst result in seven years. Sentiment among non-manufacturers was also dismal as the service sector, tourism and other businesses have also been hit hard by the outbreak.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 3.6% to 5,258.60, while South Korea's Kospi dipped 3.8% to 1,687.97. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 2.6% to 22,989.96, while the Shanghai Composite edged 0.5% lower to 2,736.28.

India's Sensex fell 3.4%. Shares fell in Singapore and Indonesia but rose in Malaysia and Thailand.

On Wall Street overnight, stocks plunged, closing out their worst quarter since the most harrowing days of the 2008 financial crisis.

The S&P 500 dropped a final 1.6%, bringing its loss for the first three months of the year to 20% as predictions...