Asian stocks tumble after Wall Street rises on pricier oil

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets tumbled Friday after soaring U.S. job losses tempered enthusiasm about a possible deal to stabilize oil prices amid anxiety over the global economic decline due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Benchmarks in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong all retreated. Australia's main index fell 2.3%.

Some markets followed Wall Street higher in early trading after President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he expected major oil producers Saudi Arabia and Russia to back away from their price-cutting war. But by midday, all major Asian markets had retreated. Southeast Asian benchmarks were mixed.

U.S. unemployment numbers were a “hard dose of economic reality” for markets, Jeffrey Halley of Oanda said in a report.

Government data showed 6.6 million initial U.S. jobless claims this week, double the previous week's record-breaking figure. That raised the number of Americans who have lost jobs in the coronavirus-driven downturn to almost 10 million.

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.7% to 2,762.04 and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% to 17,712.51. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.8% to 23,098.68.

The Kospi in Seoul retreated 0.6% to 1,713.55 while Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 declined to 5,032.80. India's Sensex opened down 1.7% at 27,784.21.

New Zealand and Jakarta gained while Singapore and Bangkok retreated.

Markets usually welcome lower energy costs for companies and consumers. But the abrupt plunge to below $20 this week from $60 at the start of the year triggered fears heavily indebted producers might default, undermining credit markets.

Trump said on Twitter he expects production cuts are coming after talking with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Kremlin denied President Vladimir Putin had talked with bin Salman but Saudi Arabia called...