Asian stocks gain after France, Spain unveil reopening plans

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets gained Wednesday after France and Spain joined governments that plan to ease anti-virus controls and allow businesses to reopen.

Benchmarks in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Sydney and Southeast Asia advanced. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.

Wall Street retreated overnight, hurt by declines in health care and tech stocks that have been among the winners during the coronavirus pandemic.

The French and Spanish governments announced plans Tuesday to allow restaurants and other businesses to reopen gradually. They followed Italy, which announced similar plans on Sunday.

“Reopening hopes continue to characterize the market despite the slight pullback for Wall Street,” Jingyi Pan of IG said in a report.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2% to 2,814.75 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.1% to 24,598.00. The Kospi in Seoul advanced 0.8% to 1,948.68.

The ASX-S&P 200 in Sydney gained 1.1% to 5,371.20 while India's Sensex opened up 1.1% at 32,464.51. Singapore was 0.3% higher and Jakarta gained 0.4%. New Zealand shed 0.9%.

Investors who want to know when the deepest global downturn since the 1930s might end have been encouraged by plans to reopen factories, retailing and travel. But economists warn they are too optimistic and say evidence is mounting that the damage is even worse than forecast.

On Wednesday, New Zealand allowed construction sites, restaurants and some other businesses to reopen following a decline in new virus cases.

South Korea's government reported March industrial production increased by 4.6% compared with the previous month.

“We won’t get too many positive reports on activity in Asia over the coming months, so we should probably make the most of this one,” said Rob Carnell of ING in a report.

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