Asian shares mixed as vaccine wait tempers Wall Street optimism

Asian shares were mixed Friday as jubilance over positive US economic data and a Wall Street record high were tempered by caution in the region, where the coronavirus vaccine rollout has lagged. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.1 per cent to 29,674.31 in morning trading. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell nearly 0.1 per cent to 7,052.30. South Korea's Kospi was little changed, inching up less than 0.1 per cent to 3,194.49. Hong Kong's Hang Seng inched down less than 0.1 per cent to 28,771.21, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.2 per cent to 3,406.93. The contrast in the speed of the vaccine rollout has been striking between the US and Asia. Nearly half of American adults have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, and about 30 per cent of adults in the US have been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Japan, where inoculations for the public have barely started, has seen a resurgence of infections in recent weeks. The country's western

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