Asian stock market: Bulls ignore virus woes, Sino-American tussle
- Asian shares cheer the hopes of further corporate debt, increasing odds of the pandemic’s cure.
- Global virus numbers rise beyond 13.00 million with the US, Brazil and India on the top.
- Gilead’s Remdesivir, trials in the UK and Australia are all suggesting that the vaccine is nearer.
Asian equities defy the fears of the coronavirus (COVID-19) while taking the bids near the highest since late-January. Not only the virus woes but the escalation of the US-China tussle also gets a little audience. The reason could be traced from hopes of further monetary and fiscal stimulus from the global policymakers. To justify the same, the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gains 0.90% whereas Japan’s Nikkei rises near 2.0% to 22,713 ahead of Monday’s European session.
The UK’s Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s readiness to propel the economy joins US President Donald Trump’s push for the worth of a multi-billion dollar of a stimulus. While following the suit, the Bank of Japan appointed news head of the monetary policy team to tackle the economic woes spread by the COVID-19. Also supporting the optimism was a piece by Reuters, relying on the comments from a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson suggesting a 12% jump in the global corporate debt to $9.3 trillion.
Other than the virus and aide news, intensifying tension between Beijing and Washington also gains market attention. Following the US warning to its citizens of arbitrary arrests in China, the dragon nation criticized Trump administration and threatened over their presence in Asian waters. Elsewhere, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) suggests an Aussie-China trade pact despite not-so-positive relations among the key trading partners.
As a result, Australia’s ASX 200 adds 0.75% to 5,965 while New Zealand’s NZX 50 gains 0.20% by the press time. Further, stocks in China continue to add profits of over 1.5% amid increasing optimism at home and upbeat performance of blue chips. Additionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and India’s BSE Sensex print around 1.0% gains Indonesia’s IDX fails to ignore hardships at home. On a broader scale, S&P 500 Futures add over 0.50% with the US 10-year Treasury yields taking rounds to 0.63% to portray mild optimism.
Investors may now witness dull trading hours amid a light calendar unless the policymakers from the US and the UK cross wires during the American trading session. Even so, virus updates and news concerning China will be the key to follow for fresh trading directions.