Asian stocks: Bears keep the helm amid central bankers’ bold moves
- Asian shares tumble as traders fear the worst as major central banks take steps to counter coronavirus.
- Fed/RBNZ announced surprises during early-Asia, RBA will offer moves on Thursday.
- BOJ announced no change in monetary policy except for ETF buying.
With the global central banks taking a step forward towards countering the coronavirus, led by the Fed, Asian equities keep the red amid fears of worst to arrive. The RBNZ finally joined the global central bankers, while announcing a 0.75% rate cut, whereas the US Federal Reserve surprised markets by 1.0% rate cut and $700 billion worth of Quantitative Easing (QE).
The RBA showed readiness to take further steps on Thursday whereas BOJ refrained from a major move on Monday. Elsewhere, the global central bankers united to lower pricing on standing US dollar liquidity swaps by 25 basis points.
On the economic front, China’s January-February data dump spread disappointment, as expected. However, the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) poured cold water on the face of the pessimists by saying that the economy remains resilient. Even so, Chinese stocks
That said, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan register 2.5% losses while Japan’s NIKKEI register gains as the BOJ announced to monetary policy change except for the hike in the buying of the Exchange Traded Funds (ETF).
Shares in Australia register 9.7% loss whereas those from New Zealand flash 4.0% red signs by the press time. Moving on, Crude prices dwindle and the US 10-year treasury yields, stock futures keep the red.
Investors will now keep eyes on the coronavirus headlines as well as any further surprises from the global central banks for fresh impulse.