Hong Kong
Asian markets fell Friday as rising virus infection rates in the US put the brakes on the latest rally. Equities have shown a healthy resilience to the worryingly rapid spread of the disease around the world, with hopes for the economic recovery, the easing of lockdowns and government largesse providing crucial support. But several days of figures showing a record number of new cases in highly populated states including Florida, Texas and California—leading to the reimposition of containment measures—were beginning to sink in. Analysts also pointed out that while global markets have enjoyed healthy gains, those have mostly come thanks to traders moving into tech firms, which are more likely to benefit from further lockdowns. This is reflected in the tech-heavy Nasdaq index on Wall Street hitting multiple record highs over the past week, including Thursday.—AFP
