Investors were in pessimistic mood with US banks predicting a downturn next year and worries over how China will cope with another winter pandemic

Strong US economic data sparked worries the Fed might stick to its aggressive rate hikes policy for longer while Beijing’s pandemic rules rollback raised optimism

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged more than 4% as investor optimism was boosted by Beijing’s moves to recoil some of its economically painful pandemic restrictions

The region’s major indexes ended the week on the back foot with reluctant investors staying on the sidelines

The US Fed Chair’s dovish tone boosted the mood on trading floors while Beijing showed signs it was ready to roll back on some of its strict Covid rules

Poor factory output numbers out of Japan and China dampened the mood on trading floors despite hopes Beijing might ease its Covid curbs

Speculation that Beijing was poised to start rolling back some Covid control measures in the wake of widespread protests boosted investor mood

Covid curbs protests across several Chinese cities unsettled investors, pushing indexes down and sending the US dollar surging again

The region’s major markets were weighed down by worries over China’s Covid fight and bad news on Japan inflation despite optimism on US rate hikes

US Federal Reserve meeting minutes revealed policymakers were hopeful inflation was being tamed and hinted at a rate hikes slowdown

Asian share markets mostly rose on Wednesday but oil and the dollar slipped as rising Covid-19 cases in China raised fears of fresh lockdowns

Fresh moves by Beijing to bolster China’s struggling property industry helped sentiment but the country’s worsening Covid situation capped gains