Asian shares mixed after Wall Street rally; Hong Kong lower

Asian stocks were mixed after an upbeat open on Thursday, as investors pinned ir hopes on an ecomic rebound from coronavirus crisis.

Shares rose in Tokyo, Sydney and Mumbai but dropped in Hong Kong, where tensions are flaring over Beijing’s effort to exert more control over former British colony.

most recent developments are ar thorn in a relationship alrey testy over China's handling of early sts of coronavirus outbreaks and over longstanding tre and or antagonisms.

Two pro-democracy lawmakers were ejected from Hong Kong’s legislative chamber Thursday morning, at start of a second day of debate on a contentious bill that would criminalize insulting or abusing Chinese national anm.

Hong Kong pro-democracy activists are urging international community to pressure Beijing to withdraw proposed national security legislation that could furr reduce semi-automous Chinese territory’s civil liberties.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress Trump ministration longer regards Hong Kong as automous from mainland China. That sets st for U.S. to withdraw preferential tre and financial status Hong Kong has held since it reverted to Chinese rule 23 years ago.

While Hong Kong's role as regional tring center and financial hub has been to a large extent sidelined by developments on Chinese mainland, removing its special status would be a huge blow to businesses located in city because of its independent financial and legal systems.

With U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross saying President Donald Trump has a “'whole menu' of options, market is on edge to hear exactly what those measures are, and how China absorbs m," Chris Weston of Pepperstone said in a commentary.

“This is a risk for markets and situation is clearly fluid - one questions if equity markets are too complacent here?" Weston said.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 1.8% to 22,885.13, while Shanghai Composite index declined 0.4% to 2,824.49.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index vanced 1.7% to 21,671.28, lifted by latest, $1.1 trillion, infusion of stimulus for Japan's moribund ecomy. India's Sensex gained 1.2% to 31,985.18 and S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney climbed 1.4% to 5,855.40.

South Korean shares declined after health authorities reported 79 new cases of coronavirus in latest setback for country’s recovery from pandemic. Kospi lost 0.5% to 2,020.43.

Many infections have been linked to nightspots in capital, Seoul, and to workers at a massive warehouse operated by local e-commerce giant Coupang. Health authorities say company likely didn’t enforce preventive measures such as masks at facility in Bucheon, near Seoul, and may have h employees working even when sick.

That news undid any boost from South Korean central bank's decision to lower its policy rate to an all-time low of 0.5% to soften pandemic’s shock to country’s tre-dependent ecomy.

Bank of Korea has said ecomy may shrink for first time in 22 years. Its rate cut followed ar two months ago, which was its first since 2008.

U.S. shares vanced overnight, with S&P 500 closing over 3,000 points for first time since early March. Financial, industrial, department store chains and health care stocks accounted for a big slice of gains.

movements followed up on strong gains in Europe, where authorities proposed a 750 billion euro ($825 billion) recovery fund to help carry region through recession caused by response to coronavirus pandemic.

benchmark S&P 500 ended a choppy day of tring up 1.5% at 3,036.13. Dow Jones Industrial Aver jumped 2.2%, to 25,548.27, its first close above 25,000 points since March.

Nasdaq composite recovered from an early slide, ding 0.8% to 9,412.36. Small company stocks, which have lagged broer market this year, were big gainers, with Russell 2000 index surging 3.1% to 1,436.36.

“A stey stream of ecomic revival indications underpinned latest rally on Wall Street, inducing market to brush aside simmering tensions between U.S. and China," Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary.

Some big techlogy companies that h been stalwarts during market’s sell-off took a step back Wednesday, which kept market’s gains in check in early going. Microsoft bounced back from a loss to finish with a gain of 0.1%, but Amazon fell 0.5% and Nvidia dropped 2.2%. All three remain up at least 15% for year so far.

S&P 500 is w down only 10.3% from its record high in February, before it plunged nearly 34% in March on sell-offs propelled by worries over coming recession.

Gains first driven by massive stimulus from Federal Reserve and Capitol Hill have accelerated recently on hopes growth will revive as governments ease up on business-shutdown orders meant to slow spre of coronavirus.

In or tring, bond yields were mixed. yield on 10-year Treasury held stey at 0.69%.

U.S. crude oil for delivery in July lost $1.23 to $31.58 per barrel in electronic tring on New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell $1.54 on Wednesday to settle at $32.81 per barrel.

July Brent crude, international standard, gave up 83 cents to $34.62 per barrel.

dollar bought 107.82 Japanese yen, up from 107.72 yen late Wednesday. euro rose to $1.1010 from $1.1006.