BEIJING – Most Asian stock markets 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.Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul declined, while Shanghai advanced.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.