The name of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited is displayed at the entrance in Hong Kong, China January 24, 2018. — Reuters pic
HONG KONG, Feb 11 — Asian markets rebounded today spurred by fresh Wall Street records but investors remained jittery about the global economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak in China.
Eyes are on China as the world’s second-largest economy sputters back up after a forced extension to the Lunar New Year holiday because of the outbreak, which has killed more than 1,000 people and disrupted major global supply chains.
After a nervous start to the week that saw Asian bourses plunge, most bounced back.
Hong Kong closed up 1.3 per cent, while mainland China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was 0.4 per cent higher.
Elsewhere, Sydney climbed 0.6 per cent, Singapore rose 0.4 per cent and Seoul jumped 1.0 per cent. Taipei gained 0.8 per cent and Wellington was up 1.1 per cent.
Markets in Tokyo were closed for a public holiday.
The positive mood in Asia followed yesterday rallies on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq hit fresh records.
The 2019-nCoV virus, which emerged in central China, has spooked equity and oil markets for weeks, having spread to more than two dozen countries.
More than 42,000 infections have been confirmed so far in mainland China, and President Xi Jinping has described the situation in Hubei, the outbreak epicentre, as “still very grave”.
In early trade, European markets followed the positive lead from Wall Street and Asia. London rose 1.0 per cent, Frankfurt gained 1.1 per cent and Paris was up 0.7 per cent.
Stimulus expectations
Chinese authorities are expected to make policy interventions to help ease the economic hit from the virus, analysts said, which could boost market confidence.
“While... uncertainties remain around nCoV, one sure thing you can probably count on is that the mother of all stimulus measures will get laid down by the (Chinese central bank),” wrote Stephen Innes, chief market strategist for Asia-Pacific at AxiCorp.
Investors will also be looking to see any assessments about the economic impact of the outbreak in US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony to Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A number of earnings reports are also expected this week, including from companies that could suffer a coronavirus hit to their numbers.
Chinese tech giant Alibaba, Japanese automaker Nissan and MGM Resorts are among the firms scheduled to announce results this week.
“We have to consider that the rebound in growth we were expecting over 2020 may be either delayed or somewhat less vigorous than we were anticipating due to the impact of the virus,” Mark Robertson of Aviva Investors told Bloomberg News.
China, the world’s largest importer and consumer of oil, was already battling an economic slowdown when the coronavirus emerged.
Fears of a decline in demand from China, and the resulting supply glut, has caused oil prices to tumble in recent weeks.
But like Asian equities, the main oil contracts rebounded today. Brent Crude was up 1.0 per cent while West Texas Intermediate rose 1.0 per cent.
Key figures at 0820 GMT
Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 1.3 per cent at 27,583.88 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.4 per cent at 2,901.67 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: Closed for public holiday
Euro/dollar: DOWN at US$1.0906 from US$1.0909
Pound/dollar: DOWN at US$1.2898 from US$1.2904
Euro/pound: UP at 84.56 pence from 84.54 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 109.91 from 109.89
Brent Crude: UP 1.0 per cent at US$53.81 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.0 per cent at US$50.03 per barrel
London – FTSE 100: UP 1.0 per cent at 7,523.57
New York – Dow: UP 0.6 per cent at 29,276.82 (close)
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.7 per cent at 3,352.09 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: UP 1.1 per cent at 9,628.39 (close)
-- Bloomberg News contributed to this story --
— AFP