HSI In Red As Asian Markets Ignore Wall Street Rally

Hong Kong equities were slightly lower on Wednesday despite an overnight rebound on Wall Street prompted by encouraging signs of a decline in US coronavirus infection rates.

The Hang Seng index edged down 0.1 percent, to 24,412 at the lunch break.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.2 percent, to 2,823 while the Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.3 percent, to 1,750.

Major indices on Wall Street gained more than 2 percent overnight, but the optimism didn't spread to Asia.

Tokyo slid 0.6 percent after a sharp rise in the last session as a stronger yen weighed on investor sentiment.

Sydney was 0.4 percent lower and Singapore fell 0.1 percent but Seoul was up 1.7 percent as South Korea voted in national parliamentary elections.

"Appearances can be deceiving as behind the headlines lies the most gnarly storm clouds building, suggesting there is still much to be worried about," said AxiCorp chief market strategist Stephen Innes.

"But flattening infection curves and the thoughts of more stimulus lifted all boats. And regardless of whether I think we are in la-la land, it is what it is."

Oil futures rose in Asian trade but were still well lower than last week despite the weekend deal by producer nations to cut output by nearly 10 million barrels per day from May. (AFP)

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