Asian shares mixed after China says growth weakened in 2Q

BANGKOK (AP) — Share prices were mixed in Asia on Friday after China reported its economy contracted by 2.6% in the last quarter as virus shutdowns kept businesses closed and people at home.

U.S. futures and oil prices edged higher.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index added 0.5% to 26,788.47. The Kospi in Seoul was up 0.2% at 2,327.76 and shares also rose in India and Taiwan.

The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.8% to 3,254.74. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.8% to 6,596.90 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong declined 1.9% to 20,347.96.

Official data showed the Chinese economy shrank by 2.6% compared with the January-March period’s already weak quarter-on-quarter rate of 1.4%. Compared with a year earlier, which can hide recent fluctuations, growth slid to a weak 0.4% from the earlier quarter’s 4.8%.

Anti-virus controls shut down Shanghai, site of the world’s busiest port, and other manufacturing centers starting in late March, fueling concerns global trade and manufacturing might be disrupted. Millions of families were confined to their homes, depressing consumer spending.

More outbreaks this week in China and elsewhere in Asia have raised worries that COVID-19 controls might be restored, on top of existing precautions.

On Thursday on Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 3,790.38. Nearly three out of every four stocks in the benchmark index finished in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 30,630.17. The Nasdaq rose less than 0.1%, to 11,251.19.

Small-company stocks fell more than the broader market in another signal that investors are worried about economic growth. The Russell 2000 fell 1.1% to 1,707.51.

Wall Street has been assessing the latest government reports showing that inflation remains hot and shows no signs of cooling, even as central banks try...