Stock market slides at open, ending comeback

After partially clawing back from its historic losses over the last several days, the Tel Aviv Stock exchange’s major indexes have opened April with a return to losing.

The benchmark TA-35 is down 2.65 percent over an hour after the opening bell, and the TA-125 is down 2.88%.

The trend was repeated across East Asia, where shares mostly fell Wednesday, on continuing worries about the economic fallout from the pandemic as reports of coronavirus cases keep surging in various regions.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 4.5% to finish at 18,065.41. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 3.6% to 5,258.60, while South Korea’s Kospi dipped 3.8% to 1,687.97. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 2.6% to 22,989.96, while the Shanghai Composite edged 0.5% lower to 2,736.28.

— with AP