Asian shares mostly higher after rebound on Wall Street

Shares advanced in most Asian markets on Wednesday after a rebound on Wall Street that reversed most losses from a sell-off the day before.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 2.8%, to 27,174.43 after reopening from Lunar New Year holidays, while other Chinese markets remained closed.

The U.S. rally overnight snapped a two-day skid driven by fears that the spread of a new virus in China could snag global economic growth. China reported Wednesday that the virus has sickened more than 6,000 people in China and over a dozen other countries and killed 132 people.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.7% to 23,379.40 and in South Korea the Kospi picked up 0.5% to 2,188.04. Australia's S&P ASX/200 rose 0.5% to 7,031.50, while the Sensex in India climbed 0.8% to 41,283.40. Shares also rose in Southeast Asia, apart from Kuala Lumpur, which fell 1.4% as trading resumed after the Lunar New Year.

Investors placed their concerns about the virus’ potential economic impact on the back burner on Tuesday and snapped up U.S. stocks beaten down earlier in the week, particularly chipmakers and other technology companies. The sector notched the biggest gain Tuesday and powered much of the rally.

The S&P 500 index rose 1% to 3,276.24. The Dow gained 0.7% to 28,722.85. The Nasdaq climbed 1.4% to 9,269.68, while the Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks picked up 0.9%, to 1,658.31.

But the potential for still more virus-related scares remains, analysts cautioned.

“Markets may enjoy one or two days in the sun. I would be remiss in my role as the voice of reason if I did not caution investors to be wary of chasing, what may be temporary, dead cat bounces," Jeffrey Halley of Oanda said in a commentary, “Until we have much more clarity on the controlling of the Wuhan virus outbreak...