Asia markets mostly higher as U.S. coronavirus cases surge

Asia stocks mostly rose on Friday as the coronavirus situation stateside continued to be monitored by investors.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.13% to close at 22,512.08 as shares of conglomerate Softbank Group jumped 3.04% while the Topix index added 0.99% to finish its trading day at 1,577.37. South Korea’s Kospi also gained 1.05% to close at 2,134.65.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index bucked the overall trend regionally as it slipped 0.77% as of its final hour of trading, with shares of Chinese tech giant Alibaba dropping nearly 3%.

Meanwhile, shares in Australia advanced, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 1.49% to trade at 5,904.10.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rose 0.36%.

Markets in China were closed on Friday for a holiday.

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