Asian shares mostly higher, lockdown feud drags Tokyo lower

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Thursday though Japan’s benchmark fell as local leaders sparred with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government over measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

After a 3.4% overnight rally on Wall Street, markets advanced in Hong Kong, Sydney and Shanghai. Investors seem reassured by signs that deaths and infections may be nearing a peak or plateau in some of the world’s hardest-hit areas.

And a meeting of oil producers planned for Thursday has raised hopes energy companies might get some relief in the form of production cuts to help support crude prices amid collapsing demand.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.3%, to 19,298.64, after the central bank governor said the economy faces “extremely high” uncertainty over the likely impact of the pandemic.

That uncertainty was heightened by disagreement between leaders over just how quickly and far to extend precautions meant to contain a surge in coronavirus infections.

Abe's spokesman said that after declaring a state of emergency for Tokyo and six other hard-hit areas on Tuesday, the government planned to see whether residents were complying with the entirely voluntary request to stay at home before deciding on whether or not to ask more businesses to close.

That ran counter to Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's efforts to get stronger compliance, since so far the requests appeared to have achieved only about half of the 70-80% social distancing Abe said he was aiming for.

The governor of Aichi, a prefecture not included in Abe's state of emergency declaration and home to Toyota Motor Corp.'s headquarters, asked that it also be included. The region has reported dozens of police officers falling sick from the coronavirus.

Shares also fell in Taiwan, Malaysia and...