Hong Kong, Asia stocks weighed down by US top coronavirus expert warning of risk of opening businesses too soon
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Hong Kong stocks slipped Wednesday while other Asia-Pacific stock benchmarks finished mixed as investors weighed the latest unsettling red flags on the coronavirus front.
America’s top virus expert warned reopening businesses too early in the world’s largest economy could trigger a resurgence. Meanwhile, China, where the pandemic originated, found itself dealing with cluster outbreaks of local transmissions of the coronavirus in two of its provinces.
Fauci’s warning came as the coronavirus continues to drive investor sentiment in Hong Kong and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region.
Governments – from Australia to Hong Kong – are experimenting with how to ease restrictions on businesses and people without unleashing a spike in virus infections. Globally, nearly 300,000 people have died, with the US home to the largest death toll at more than 82,000. There is no vaccine.
But in addition to its health threat, the virus has upended the world’s economies. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard warned on Tuesday of the risk of a depression in the US if shutdowns persist.