Asian shares mixed amid tug of war between hope, fear

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mixed in muted trading Friday after Wall Street eked out modest gains amid a tug of war between worries about the worsening pandemic in the present and optimism that a vaccine will rescue the economy in the future.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.5% in afternoon trading to 25,513.91. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged down 0.1% to 6,539.20. South Korea's Kospi added less than 0.1% to 2,548.37. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.4% to 26,460.17, while the Shanghai Composite rose nearly 0.2% to 3,368.28.

Investors were looking ahead to data that will be out next week on the health of regional economies, including India, which has been hit hard by the pandemic, and also Taiwan and Singapore.

“The focus next week in Asia will be the extent of India’s bounce back in the third quarter, as the data in October underscores the renewed threat to the region from the second wave of the pandemic,” said Prakash Sakpal, senior economist Asia at ING.

Japan, which is heading to a three-day weekend, has had its optimism dashed by record daily COVID-19 cases. Although Japan has had fewer deaths related to the pandemic — under 2,000 — compared to harder-hit nations, worries are growing about a need for stricter restrictions on travel and anti-infection measures.

On Wall Street on Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% after spending much of the day flipping between small losses and gains. The benchmark index was coming off a 1.2% slide from the day before that pulled it away from its record of 3,626.91 set on Monday. The late-afternoon burst of buying erased nearly all of the S&P 500's losses for the week.

Technology companies accounted for much of the rebound. Companies that rely on consumer spending and communications stocks also helped...