Asia shares slide across board amid rate hike, COVID worries

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly declined Thursday, echoing a retreat on Wall Street as investors fretted about higher interest rates and rising coronavirus cases in parts of the region.

Benchmarks fell in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Sydney, but edged higher in Shanghai.

Oil prices fell by more than $2 a barrel ahead of a meeting of OPEC set for later in the day. Oil-producing nations are expected to decide on output targets in their first meeting since Europe set sanctions on Russian crude.

In China, strict COVID-19 restrictions are back in Hong Kong as infections rise, while they are gradually being lifted in Shanghai. China has stuck to a “zero-COVID” strategy that requires lockdowns, mass testing and isolation for those infected or who has been in contact with someone testing positive.

“The dampened mood in Wall Street may not provide much positive backdrop for the Asia’s session today, with U.S.-listed Chinese stocks falling in tandem with their Western counterparts overnight,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG in Singapore.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.2% to 27,413.88. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.8% to 7,175.90. South Korea's Kospi slipped 1.1% to 2,657.50. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 1.2% to 21,040.62, while the Shanghai Composite reversed earlier losses, gaining 0.3% to 3,193.06.

On Wall Street, stocks began their slide immediately after the release of several reports on the U.S. economy, including one showing manufacturing growth was stronger last month than expected. That bolstered investors' expectations for the Federal Reserve to continue raising interest rates aggressively to slow the economy in hopes of reining in inflation.

The S&P 500 fell 0.7% to 4,101.23. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 0.5% to 32,813.23.

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