Asian markets lower on virus worries after Wall Street slips

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower on Tuesday as jitters about the spread of the coronavirus's delta variant dented enthusiasm about strong corporate profits.

Investors looked ahead to U.S. jobs data due out this week for signs of the health of the world's biggest economy.

Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney declined.

Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index closed lower, weighed down by declines for tech, energy, industrial and communications stocks.

Investors were encouraged by unexpectedly strong U.S. earnings but are more uneasy as China, the United States and other governments try to stop the spread of the more contagious delta variant.

“It is clear that COVID delta variant risks have not been put to bed,” said Mizuho Bank in a report.

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.4% to 3,452.05 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo sank 0.5% to 27,646.85. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong tumbled 0.4% to 26,127.02.

The Kospi in South Korea gained 0.2% to 3,229.76 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 was 0.4% lower at 7,465.10.

India's Sensex opened down 0.6% at 53,294.60. New Zealand and Singapore declined while Bangkok and Indonesia gained.

Investors looked ahead to U.S. employment data due out Friday for indications of whether hiring has held up.

On Thursday, U.S. markets appeared to shrug off a report by the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, that manufacturing slowed in July. Many companies are being held back by supply chain disruptions.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 4,387.16. The index is coming off a weekly loss but is within 0.8% of its all-time set a week ago.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.3% to 34,838.16. The Nasdaq composite added 0.1% to 14,681.07.

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