Shares slipped in Asia on Friday as tensions flared between the U.S. and China and as more job losses compounded the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank more than 5% on Friday after legislation that could limit opposition activity in the former British colony was presented to China's ceremonial parliament.
Li told the opening session of the national legislature that Beijing would set no economic growth target in order to focus on fighting the disease. He warned in his annual report to lawmakers that the battle against the pandemic isn't over and urged the country to "redouble our efforts" to revive slumping economic growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to 24,474.12 and the Nasdaq composite lost 1%, to 9,284.88. Small-company stocks, which have notched the biggest gains this week, bucked the downward trend. The Russell 2000 inched less than 0.1% higher to 1,347.56. Despite a week of uneven finishes, Wall Street looks set to recoup its losses from last week after a strong rally on Monday that reversed all of the market's losses for the month. The index is still down about 13% from its high in February.
July Brent crude oil, the international standard, declined $1.61 to $34.45 per barrel. It gained 31 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $36.06 a barrel in London.
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