Asian shares extend losses after Wall Street decline
BANGKOK (AP) — Shares slipped in Asia on Thursday after benchmarks fell more than 1% on Wall Street in the middle of a mostly quiet and holiday-shortened week.
U.S. futures were mixed and oil prices declined.
Investors are watching to see how China's relaxation of its stringent COVID-19 policies, and the outbreaks of infections that have followed, will affect business activity and travel.
One concern is that the massive outbreaks could generate new, potentially vaccine resistant variants of the virus, “leading to knock-on virus surges across the globe, China’s reopening could still mark a positive step over the long run in light of past global attempts in bringing virus cases under control," Yean Jun Rong of IG said in a commentary.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed 1.0% to 19,691.33, while the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.3% at 3,078.81.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.9% to 26,093.67.
The Kospi in Seoul sank 1.9% to 2,236.40 after the government reported South Korea's industrial production fell 3.7% from a year earlier in November, worse than forecast and a bigger drop than the 1.2% decline in October. Retail sales were down 1.8% from the month before.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.9% to 7,020.10. Bangkok’s SET index gained 0.3% and Mumbai’s Sensex was flat.
The worst year since 2008 for the S&P 500 has been winding down with little in the way of data to drive trading. But later Thursday, the U.S. government was due to release jobless claims, a measure of employment that could provide insight into how the economy is faring as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to quash inflation.
The Fed has already raised its key interest rate seven times this year and is expected to continue raising rates in 2023. The key lending rate, the federal funds...
