Asian shares fall back after Wall Street rebound

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stocks sank Friday as investors looked ahead to next week's U.S. presidential election and weighed the chances of economic stimulus from Washington and Europe.

Benchmarks in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul all retreated. Shanghai swung between gains and losses.

Investors have been dismayed by lack of progress in talks between the White House and Congress on new U.S. stimulus. Hopes for action ahead of Tuesday's election and potential wrangling over the outcome have diminished.

“The market is still in search of that elusive stimulus lifeline in this mishmash of pre-election de-risking,” Stephen Innes of Axi said in a report.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 0.8% to 23,147.14 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost less than 0.1% at 24,580.22.

The Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.1% at 3,269.45 at midday after the ruling Communist Party said it will transform China into a self-reliant “technology power” as a feud with Washington hampers access to high-tech components.

The Kospi in Seoul retreated 1.2% to 2,298.96 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 was 0.3% lower at 5,945.20.

India's Sensex opened up 0.4% at 39,906.14. New Zealand, Singapore and Bangkok retreated.

On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index rose 1.2% to 3,310.11, helped by a rebound for tech stocks as the market steadied after its worst drop in four months.

The index fell 3.5% on Wednesday on worries an upsurge in coronavirus infections could drag down the economy again.

Traders welcomed data that showed the number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits eased last week to 751,000. That was down from the previous week's 791,000 and better than economists expected.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5%, to 26,659.11. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 1.6% to...