Asian shares recover early losses as some traders temper pessimism

Asian shares recovered early losses and crept into positive territory on Wednesday, but stock futures pointed to a lower European open as worries about a slow economic recovery from the coronavirus weighed on global sentiment.

Investors, many facing steep losses due to the pandemic-driven shakeout in assets over the past few months, have also had to contend with renewed U.S.-China trade tensions.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan erased an early decline and rose 0.3%.

Shares in China, where the coronavirus first emerged late last year, rose 0.2%. U.S. stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, rose 0.4%.