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BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mostly lower Monday after Wall Street declined for a third week and Britain reported a rise in coronavirus infections.
Data:Keep tabs on U.S. stock-market futures
Benchmarks in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Sydney retreated. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.
On Friday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index SPX, -1.11% lost 1.1%, led by a selloff of tech companies that led this year’s rebound. Investors worry they might have become to expensive.
Market momentum shifted after the Federal Reserve said last week the U.S. economic outlook is uncertain. Growth in some industries has slowed after additional unemployment benefits that supported consumer spending slowed. Congress has yet to agree on a new support package.
“With 43 days to the U.S. election, fingers crossed may be what little one can do when it comes to the fiscal stimulus hopes,” said Jingyi Pan of IG in a report.
Investors also were rattled by a rise in coronavirus cases in Britain. On Sunday, the government reported 4,422 new infections, its biggest daily rise since early May. An official estimate shows new cases and hospital admissions are doubling every week.
The Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, -0.41% lost 0.2% to 3,330.03 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong HSI, -0.95% shed 0.6% to 24,310.84.
Hong Kong equities were down more sharply than others in the region early Monday.
AFP/Getty Images
The Kospi in Seoul 180721, -0.17% was up less than 0.1% at 2,413.19, while Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 XJO, -0.51% sank 0.7% to 5,823.70.
New Zealand declined, while Singapore and Jakarta advanced.
Global markets have recovered most of this year’s losses, though the bulk of gains went to big tech companies and a handful of stocks, while most issues still are down.
Investors have been encouraged by central bank infusions of credit into struggling economies and hopes for a vaccine to end the coronavirus pandemic that plunged the global economy into its deepest downturn since the 1930s.
Forecasters warn, however, that the rebound might be too early to be supported by uncertain economic activity as infection numbers rise in the United States, Brazil and some other countries.
Some governments have re-imposed anti-disease controls that hamper business.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 declined to 3,319.47 on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial DJIA, -0.87% dropped 0.9% to 27,657.42. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -1.07% lost 1.1% to 10,793.28.
Apple Inc. AAPL, -3.17% dropped 3.2%, Microsoft Corp. MSFT, -1.24% fell 1.2% and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -1.78% slid 1.8%. Markets also are on edge about U.S.-Chinese tension over trade, technology and security.
The White House had said Friday it would ban downloads of the popular Chinese-owned Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat, citing security concerns.
A federal judge on Saturday agreed to postpone the restrictions on WeChat on the grounds they might interfere with free speech. The same day, President Donald Trump endorsed an agreement for TikTok, a unit of China’s ByteDance Ltd., to form a U.S. company with Oracle Corp. ORCL, -0.71% and Walmart Inc. WMT, -1.02%.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude CL.1, -0.19% gained 11 cents to $41.22 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the price standard for international oils, advanced 9 cents to $43.24 per barrel in London BRN00, -0.13%.
The dollar USDJPY, -0.26% declined to 104.37 yen from Friday 104.18 yen. The euro EURUSD, +0.24% gained to $1.1861 from $1.1843.
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