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Asian markets resume losses as stimulus joy fades
HONG KONG, March 30, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Asian markets fell Monday following a
steep drop on Wall Street as the jubilation from last week’s enormous US
stimulus package faded and investors returned their attention to the soaring
infection and death rate of the coronavirus.
Donald Trump finally signed off the more than $2 trillion pump-priming
measures on Friday, but equities — which enjoyed a much-needed rally for
much of the week — ended on a negative note as dealers took profits.
While the disease ravages populations and the global economy grinds to a
halt with 40 percent of the planet in lockdown, experts are struggling to get
a grip on the scale of the crisis that is forecast to cause a worldwide
recession.
And analysts say there are likely more dark days ahead, with Trump
abandoning his timetable for life returning to normal in the United States
and extending emergency restrictions for another month.
The president said he expected the country to “be well on our way to
recovery” by June 1 — dropping his previous target of mid-April.
Meanwhile, senior US scientist Anthony Fauci issued a tentative prediction
that COVID-19 could claim up to 200,000 lives in the US.
AxiCorp’s Stephen Innes said that while governments and central banks have
acted to shore up the global economy, pledging around $5 trillion in stimulus
support, markets looked like they were “nearing policy fatigue where it
becomes less effective, and as the surprise element diminishes, no one
cares”.
“So, while policy responses in the US and Europe have been spectacular…
the coronavirus keeps spreading globally, deepening fears of the economic and
financial impact across countries. More market turmoil likely lies ahead.”
He also pointed out that with the corporate reporting season approaching
“now we are about to enter a vortex of bad earnings, bad economic data, and
bankruptcies”.
– ‘The big unknown’ –
The downbeat mood weighed on Asian equities. Tokyo went into the break more
than three percent down, while Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taipei were more than
one percent lower in the morning.
Seoul shed two percent and Manila 2.5 percent, while Jakarta was more than
four percent down. Wellington eased 0.6 percent but Sydney, which plunged
more than five percent on Friday, was more than two percent higher. Singapore
slid more than four percent as investors brushed off the city-state’s
monetary policy easing measures that came days after data showed it was
heading for a deep recession.
“The big question for markets is whether the huge stimulus introduced so
far across the globe will be enough to help the global economy withstand the
economic shock from the COVID-19 containment measures,” said National
Australia Bank’s Rodrigo Catril.
“To answer this question one needs to know the magnitude of the containment
measures and for how long they will be implemented. This is the big unknown
and it suggests markets are likely to remain volatile until this uncertainty
is resolved.”
The return to a risk-averse environment on trading floors also sent the
dollar back up against higher-yielding currencies with the Mexican peso,
Indonesian rupiah and South Korean won losing more than one percent apiece.
The oil market remains in turmoil, with the Saudi-Russian price war adding
to the impact of battered demand caused by the virus. And there are warnings
the commodity, already at near two-decade lows, could sink even further as
production remains heightened and storage tanks around the world approach
full capacity.
“When the storage capacity is filled, we should probably expect a response
from Saudi Arabia, Russia, and other essential oil producers,” Innes added,
though he warned “the longer their response takes, the higher the risk of
another steep decline in oil prices”.
– Key figures around 0230 GMT –
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 3.2 percent at 18,762.70 (break)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng: DOWN 1.3 percent at 23,169.22
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.2 percent at 2,738.32
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1088 from $1.1148 at 2100 GMT
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 107.31 yen from 107.88 yen
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2393 from $1.2450
Euro/pound: DOWN at 89.45 pence from 89.46 pence
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 6.3 percent at $23.37 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 5.1 percent at $20.41 per barrel
New York – Dow: DOWN 4.1 percent at 21,636.78 (close)
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 5.3 percent at 5,510.33 (close)
BSS/AFP/GMR/0930 hrs