Asian stocks retreated after their biggest daily jump since June last year as a global rally in risk assets paused on Friday.
Equity gauges dropped from Tokyo and Seoul to Sydney after news of further 2019 novel coronavirus infections on a cruise ship off Japan offered a reminder that cases remain on the rise.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index fell 0.6 percent, up 2.4 percent for the week.
Asian stocks posted their biggest weekly advance since June last year, even after a record market capitalization wipeout for domestic Chinese shares on Monday.
Some strategists have cast doubt on the global rally given how much of China’s economy remains shut down, although corporate news has helped give bulls encouragement.
In Japan, Softbank Group Corp’s stock jumped after reports that activist investor Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp has built a stake in the company.
Expectations the outbreak would be contained and growth would rebound from the second quarter on the back of stimulus and pent-up activity are “probably somewhat optimistic,” Manulife Asset Management macro strategist Sue Trinh told Bloomberg TV. “The very real risk is that this outbreak spreads, quite literally, into the second quarter and beyond.”
The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange fell 136.87 points, or 1.16 percent, to close at 11,612.81, but was up 1 percent for the week.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.3 percent to 27,404.27, but it rose 4.1 percent on the week, its largest weekly jump since the middle of December last year.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 0.6 percent on Friday.
The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking the IT sector rose 0.3 percent, the financial sector ended 0.4 percent lower and the property sector dipped 0.3 percent.
The Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.3 percent at 2,875.96 on Friday. For the week, it fell 3.4 percent after markets witnessed heavy selling on Monday, when they reopened after the Lunar New Year break.
Japan’s TOPIX on Friday fell 0.3 percent, paring its weekly gains to 2.8 percent. The Nikkei 225 lost 0.2 percent on Friday, but was up 2.7 percent for the week.
South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.7 percent on Friday, but gained 4.4 percent on the week.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index was virtually unchanged on Friday, rising 4 percent for the week.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index on Friday rose 0.2 percent and up 1 percent for the week.
Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur Composite Index added 0.1 percent on Friday and added 1.5 percent for the week.
Additional reporting by CNA and staff writer
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