Asian shares mixed as investors weigh virus risk, stimulus
BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mixed in Asia on Wednesday after Wall Street logged its biggest loss in May on worries about the downside of reopening the economy too soon.
Tokyo's benchmark slid, while stocks reversed early losses in Shanghai and Hong Kong. India's Sensex jumped 2.3% on hopes for fresh government support for the economy.
Underscoring concerns about the risks of ending shutdowns before the coronavirus pandemic is brought under control, the top U.S. infectious diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told Congress bluntly that if the country reopens too soon, it could not only cause “some suffering and death that could be avoided, but could even set you back on the road to try to get economic recovery.”
Those comments reverberated in global markets.
“Over and above the recent resurfacing of cases in countries such as China and Germany, Dr. Fauci’s comments pack in more arguments against a rapid reopening of U.S. states which had been supported by President Donald Trump and fueled the gains seen for U.S. markets of late," Jingyi Pan of IG said in a report.
Across Asia, too, governments have been loosening restrictions as they try to staunch the economic carnage from pandemic shutdowns, despite signs of fresh outbreaks.
In China, where the virus first surfaced, authorities announced seven new cases on Wednesday. Six were in Jilin province, in the northeast, where alert levels were raised and rail connections suspended.
South Korea reported 26 additional cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours amid a new spike in infections linked to nightclubs in Seoul.
Pakistan, meanwhile, confirmed 2,000 new positive coronavirus cases in a single day, just days after its prime minister, Imran Khan, eased lockdown restrictions and stepped up the return of...
