(Bloomberg) -- Stocks in Asia began the week on a mixed footing as further signs of policy support from China and other nations helped prop up sentiment amid efforts to counter the fallout from the deadly coronavirus.Japan’s equities underperformed after a much deeper economic contraction than expected in Japan. A Chinese equities gauge erased its post-lunar new year holiday drop. The People’s Bank of China offered loans at a lower rate for medium-term funding, though limited its liquidity injections Monday. Shares pushed higher in Hong Kong and South Korea, while Australia’s main index was flat. U.S. stock futures were slightly higher. Volumes may be lower than average Monday due to a U.S. holiday.On the epidemic front, China over the weekend unveiled plans for reducing corporate taxes and fees, and letting banks run up more non-performing loans. On Monday the nation’s central bank lowered rates on the so called medium-term lending facility. Bloomberg Economics estimated China’s economy has been running at just 40% to 50% capacity in the last week.While investor sentiment improved the past two weeks amid optimism the outbreak may be nearing a peak, new cases outside of China are keeping traders on edge. Hubei province on Monday reported almost 2,000 new cases and 100 additional deaths, while fatalities in Taiwan and France were reported over the weekend.“If the Chinese economy does recover and you’ve added all this fiscal and monetary stimulus into it aswell, the situation could be that you have much stronger emerging-markets into the second half” of the year, Sunny Bangia, a fund manager at Antipodes Partners Ltd., told Bloomberg TV in Sydney. “A lot depends on how this virus gets contained and if it can morph into something more minor.”Japan’s Topix Index slid about 1% after the worst nominal GDP performance since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office. In Singapore, the government Monday cut its growth forecasts, citing uncertainty over the length and severity of the virus outbreak. The country is expected to unveil a large stimulus package to mitigate the hit from the epidemic.Here are some key events coming up:Earnings season rolls on with results from companies including: BHP Group, Glencore Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc, Walmart Inc. and Deere & Co.U.S. celebrates Presidents’ Day on Monday, with financial markets shut.Minutes of the most recent Federal Reserve meeting are published on Wednesday.Indonesia is expected to cut interest rates on Thursday, following emerging-market peers from Brazil to South Africa which have lowered borrowing costs already this year.These are the main moves in markets:StocksJapan’s Topix index lost 0.9% as of 10:53 a.m. in Tokyo.Futures on the S&P 500 added 0.2%. The index rose 0.2% on Friday.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.7%.The Shanghai Composite added 0.9%.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 0.1%.South Korea’s Kospi index gained 0.2%.CurrenciesThe yen was flat at 109.83 per dollar.The offshore yuan added 0.1% to 6.9828 per dollar.The Australian dollar rose 0.2% to 67.24 U.S. cents.The euro bought $1.0838.BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries slid three basis points to 1.58% on Friday.Australia’s 10-year yield was steady at 1.05%.CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude dipped 0.1% to $52.02 a barrel.Gold was little changed at $1,582.28 an ounce.To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Anstey at canstey@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
from Yahoo Finance https://ift.tt/2SybIEt
0 comments:
Post a Comment