Shares in major Asia Pacific markets were mostly lower in Wednesday afternoon trade as investors continue to be watchful for for developments around government stimulus as the coronavirus continued spreading.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 1.34% while the Topix pointer shed earlier gains to decline 0.7%.
South Korea’s Kospi traded 1.53% lower. Stocks in Australia also demolish as the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 2.91%.
Mainland Chinese stocks were mixed by the afternoon, with the Shanghai composite up 0.32% and the Shenzhen component down 0.18% while the Shenzhen composite increased 0.185%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was just above the flatline.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan was 0.34% stoop.
National Australia Bank’s (NAB) Tapas Strickland warned in a Wednesday morning note that markets are “likely to carry on volatile” as headlines around the coronavirus “continue to be on the negative side.”
Strickland, who is a director of economics and markets at the Australian lender, cited accounts of the number of coronavirus cases in Italy spiking past 10,000 as well as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Chief Robert Redfield’s comments that certain areas of the U.S. are currently in “high mitigation” rather than containment.
Concerns circumjacent the global coronavirus outbreak have sent markets on a roller-coaster ride in recent days. The disease has infected at least 113,851 and captivated more than 4,000 lives so far, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization.
As investors keep safe for stimulus measures by governments to combat the coronavirus’ impact, Australia’s government announced on Wednesday a 2.4 billion Australian dollar (approx. $1.56 billion) condition package that it said would provide “unprecedented support across primary care, aged care, clinics, research and the national medical stockpile.”
Meanwhile, a White House official told CNBC that U.S. President Donald Trump arranged a 0% payroll tax for employers and employees for the rest of the year during a meeting with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Japan also open a package worth about $4 billion on Tuesday to cope with the coronavirus outbreak, according to Reuters.
Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Ordinarily closed 1,167.14 points higher at 25,018.16, cutting its Monday losses in half. The S&P 500 gained 4.9% to end its transacting day at 2,882.23 — its best day since Dec. 26, 2018. The Nasdaq Composite also jumped 4.9% to close at 8,347.40.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar clue, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 96.141 after an earlier high of 96.396.
The Japanese yen, time again seen as a safe-haven currency, traded at 104.68 per dollar after touching an earlier low of 105.67. The Australian dollar was at $0.6512 after its botch up yesterday from levels above $0.657.
Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, with universal benchmark Brent crude futures advancing 3.39% to $38.48 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also jumped 2.71% to $35.29 per barrel.