Asian markets hit as US coronavirus death toll rises

Asian share markets were pinned down on Thursday, haunted by the rising US coronavirus death toll, and with investors braced for more signs of economic pain in the world’s largest economy ahead of another likely record week of jobless claims. With hopes growing that the worst of the outbreak may have passed for China and South Korea, the mood was less bleak than on Wall Street, which plunged overnight. Yet MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei was down 1 per cent. European futures rose 0.2 per cent and US futures bounced 1.2 per cent after Wednesday’s...