Asian markets mixed after Wall Street slides

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Monday after Wall Street turned in its biggest weekly decline in more than two months.

Benchmarks in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong retreated while Seoul and Sydney gained. Southeast Asian markets were mixed.

On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.8% on Friday, breaking a streak of gains.

Investors have been encouraged by hopes for a coronavirus vaccine and central bank infusions of cash into struggling economies. But forecasters warn the rise in prices might be outrunning uncertain economic activity as case numbers rise in the United States and some other countries. Some are re-imposing anti-disease controls that disrupt business.

“The question now is whether there will be a sustained unwinding in this forthy market, or if conviction about fresh central bank liquidity and fear of missing out kicks in once again,” Mizuho Bank said in a report.

One possible sign the decline might be temporary: demand for government bonds and other assets considered safe havens in an extended down market “has not come flooding back in," the bank said.

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.6% to 3,336.69 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shed 0.4% to 23,103.74. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was down 0.3% at 24,621.46.

The Kospi in Seoul advanced 0.6% to 2,381.82 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 added 0.2% to 5,934.60. New Zealand advanced while Singapore and Jakarta declined.

Wall Street’s slide Friday followed a Labor Department report that showed U.S. hiring slowed to 1.4 million last month. That was fewest jobs added since the economy started bouncing back from the initial shock of the pandemic. The United States has recovered about half the 22 million jobs lost to the pandemic.

The S&P 500 fell to 3,426.96. The Dow...