Asian shares mostly higher after Wall Street rally

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Tuesday despite worries about rising numbers of cases of coronavirus in the region.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 1.8% to 29,301.79 in Tokyo's first trading day of 2022. Shares also rose in Australia and South Korea, but edged lower in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Toyota Motor Corp. gained 6.1%, while Sony Corp. added 3.1%.

Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and other dignitaries rang a bell at the Tokyo Stock Exchange to herald the opening of trading. At the smaller exchange in Osaka, in western Japan, women carried on the tradition of attending the year’s opening ceremony in colorful kimono.

Troubled Chinese developer Evergrande announced it had been ordered to demolish a 39-building resort in the southern province of Hainan. Shares in the company were suspended from trading on Monday but resumed trading Tuesday, gaining 1.9%.

Evergrande is struggling with $310 billion in debt and the order to demolish the resort was a new blow to its finances.

Evergrande Group gave no explanation, but news reports said the government of Danzhou, a city on the southern island province of Hainan, found it was improperly built and violated urban planning law.

Tighter official restrictions on use of borrowed money by China’s real estate industry have prompted fears of possible defaults and a financial crisis. Chinese regulators have tried to reassure investors that any potential impact on financial markets can be contained.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was flat, at 23,270.45. The Shanghai Composite edged down 0.2% to 3,632.33.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 jumped nearly 2.0% to 7,589.80. South Korea's Kospi gained less than 1 point to 2,989.24.

Asia has had fewer coronavirus infections and deaths than the U.S. and parts of Europe. But worries are...