BEIJING — Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower on Thursday as anxiety about the economic fallout from rising coronavirus infections in the United States and Europe clashed with optimism about a possible vaccine.
Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney retreated.
On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index lost 1.2% on Wednesday, erasing early gains after Pfizer and BioNTech reported more promising vaccine data. Losses accelerated after New York City said it would close its public schools to in-person learning following a surge in infections there.
"Concerns over the near-term impact of the recent spike in cases overshadowed additional positive developments on the vaccine front," said Prakash Sakpal and Nicholas Mapa of ING in a report.
The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.1% to 3,343.35 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo sank 0.4% to 25,620.28. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.5% to 26,421.02.
Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 was down less than 0.1% at 6,526.40 after the government reported the Australian economy added 178,800 jobs in October, well above forecasts of less than 30,000.
The Kospi in Seoul retreated 0.4% to 2,535.12. New Zealand and Singapore also retreated while Jakarta gained.
Investors are swinging between optimism about vaccine development and unease about economic losses as rising case numbers in the United States and some other countries prompt governments to reimpose business and travel controls.
