Shares were mostly lower in Asia in thin trading Monday, with some markets including those in Tokyo and Shanghai closed for holidays.
The declines followed a retreat Friday on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 gave up 0.7% but still closed out its best month so far this year.
Markets have mostly climbed in recent weeks as investors remain optimistic that the pandemic is slowly and steadily coming to a close, at least in the United States. The S&P 500 rose 5.2% in April, its best monthly gain since November 2020, when President Joe Biden was elected.
In much of Asia and many other countries, caseloads have surged and vaccination levels remain low.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.5% to 28,307.10 and the Kospi in South Korea slipped 0.7% to 3,122.92. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% higher to 7,031.00.
India’s Sensex dropped 0.8% to 48,403.31. The country recorded 368,147 new coronavirus cases on Monday, including 3,417 deaths, as catastrophic surge ripples through the country.
Shares also fell in Singapore and Taiwan.
U.S. futures were higher, with the contract for the Dow industrials up 0.3% and the S&P 500 future up 0.2%.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was steady at 1.62%.
With many markets closed there was little in the way of news to drive trading.
On Friday, the S&P 500 closed at 4,181.17. The index eked out a gain of less than 0.1% for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 33,874.85 and the Nasdaq lost 0.9% to 13,962.68.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fared worse than the broader market, falling 1.3% to 2,266.45.
Investors backed away from technology, financial and communication stocks. Despite the decline, the S&P 500 ended April with a 5.2% gain, its best month since November 2020, when President Joe Biden was elected. It logged a gain of about 28% between November and April.
