Asian shares slip on faltering hopes for COVID vaccines

Stocks fell back across Asia on Thursday after gains for big technology shares pushed most Wall Street benchmarks higher. U.S. futures also declined. Excitement over news of potentially effective vaccines for COVID-19 has been tempered by concerns over the logistical challenges of ensuring access to billions of people. Meanwhile, caseloads are rising, leading governments to re-instate restrictions on business and other activities to battle the pandemic. “Vaccine trades reversed to give way to ‘stay home’ trades,” as shares of technology companies and others that do well when people stay home and work remotely rallied, Mizuho Bank said in a commentary. But it added, “Fact of the...