Asian markets broadly rose on Wednesday as wary investors tracked losses on Wall Street and elsewhere as a surge of the coronavirus Delta variant stoked fears the global economic recovery was at risk.

A fresh lockdown in New Zealand and a curfew imposed in Australia's second-largest city of Melbourne over a Delta outbreak have added to concerns about lockdowns and travel restrictions in China, the world's second-largest economy.

A lacklustre US retail sales report also exacerbated worries about the latest Covid-19 wave, bringing Wall Street's streak of five straight records for the Dow and S&P 500 indices to a stuttering halt.

Tracking those losses, markets opened flat before rising Wednesday in Tokyo, where the grim global picture was made worse by the government's decision to extend a state of emergency in the Japanese capital and other areas as the nation struggled to control a surging wave of infections.

"Investors continue to believe that economic normalisation will be delayed because of the spread of the coronavirus," Okasan Online Securities said in a note.

In China, markets opened well up, recouping some losses after disappointing economic data from Beijing earlier in the week.

Hong Kong also opened with gains, with investors appearing broadly unfazed by new antitrust plans from Beijing designed to reign in China's burgeoning tech giants -- plans that saw Chinese firms listed on Wall Street slide overnight.

Seoul rose, while Australia was steady and Taipei was well down.

New Zealand also made gains, as investors watched a decision by the country's Reserve Bank to keep interest rates unchanged, deciding against a move that would have seen it become the first advanced economy in the Asia Pacific to normalise policy.

Global markets will be keeping a close eye on the latest minutes out of the US Federal Reserve due later in the day, after chief Jerome Powell acknowledged that the pandemic was "still casting a shadow on economic activity".

Investors will be looking for any signs that the Fed plans to scale down its asset purchases -- a sign that the central bank sees the US economy as now healthy enough to ease its aggressive intervention.

Elsewhere, oil prices steadied after a four-day slump prompted by the increasingly grim outlook for global demand as the Delta variant surges.

The "market still appears to be unsure how the outlook is looking amid rising cases of the Delta variant," Daniel Hynes, senior commodities strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, told Bloomberg. Continued lockdowns could still pile pressure on prices, he added.

- Key figures around 0230 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 27,523.23 (break)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 25,894.35

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 3,459.71

Euro/dollar: UP at 1.1720 from $1.1712

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3754 from $1.3736

Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.21 pence from 85.24 pence

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 109.55 yen from 109.59 yen

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN at 66.54 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN at 68.99 per barrel

New York - Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 35,625.40 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.9 percent at 7,153.98 (close)

-- Bloomberg News contributed to this story --

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China's retail sales falter as virus rebounds
Beijing (AFP) Aug 16, 2021
Growth in China's retail sales and industrial production slowed in July, official data showed Monday, with a rebound of Covid-19 dragging on demand while recent floods disrupted businesses. The world's second-largest economy staged a rapid recovery from last year's coronavirus outbreak, beating back the virus with mass testing and strict lockdowns. But a flare-up across the country due to the Delta variant has threatened the good news on growth with renewed localised lockdowns and extensive trav ... read more