Asian shares gain on US Fed's 'whatever-it-takes' stance on virus - Aljazeera.com

Asian stocks rallied on Tuesday as the United States Federal Reserve's sweeping pledge to spend whatever it took to stabilise the financial system eased debt market pressures, even if it could not offset the immediate economic hit of the coronavirus.

Although Wall Street seemed unimpressed, investors in Asia were encouraged enough to lift E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 by 1.9 percent and Japan's Nikkei by 4.9 percent.

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MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 1.2 percent, though that followed a drop of almost 6 percent on Monday. South Korea and Australia also recouped a little of their recent losses. Asian markets had lost about a third of their value since late February before Tuesday's trading session.

In its latest drastic step, the Federal Reserve, also commonly known as the Fed, offered to buy unlimited amounts of assets to steady markets and expanded its mandate to include corporate and municipal bonds.

The numbers were certainly large, with analysts estimating the package could make $4 trillion or more in loans to non-financial firms.

"This open-ended and massively stepped-up programme of QE [quantitative easing] is a very clear signal that the Fed will do all that is needed to maintain the integrity and liquidity of the Treasury market, key asset-backed markets and other core markets," said David de Garis, a director of economics at NAB.

"COVID-19 developments remain the wild card, as is the development of government policies to support cash flow and the economy."

The Fed's package helped calm nerves in bond markets where yields on two-year Treasuries hit their lowest sine 2013, while 10-year yields dropped back sharply to 0.77 percent.

Yet analysts fear it will do little to offset the near-term economic damage done by mass lockdowns and layoffs, especially after a $1 trillion-plus stimulus package proposed by US President Donald Trump for industries, businesses and individuals was stalled again in the Senate.

Democrats said it contained too little money for hospitals and not enough limits on funds for big business.

Speculation is mounting data due on Thursday will show US jobless claims rose an eye-watering one million last week, with forecasts ranging as high as four million.

Goldman Sachs warned that the US economy could contract by 24 percent in the second quarter, two-and-a-half times as large as the previous post-war record.

The economic effects of the coronavirus are far-reaching. The International Monetary Fund warned on Monday that the coronavirus outbreak could trigger a global recession that could be worse than the 2008 financial crisis, although world economic output should recover by 2021.

A range of flash surveys on European and US manufacturing for March are due later on Tuesday and are expected to show deep declines into recessionary territory.

The logjam in the US Senate combined with the stimulus splash from the Fed to take a little of the shine off the US dollar, though it remains in demand as a global store of liquidity.

"The special role of the USD in the world's financial system - it is used globally in a range of transactions such as commodity pricing, bond issuance and international bank lending - means USD liquidity is at a premium," said CBA economist Joseph Capurso.

"While liquidity is an issue, the USD will remain strong."

The US dollar eased just a touch on the yen to 110.90 after hitting a one-month top at 111.59 on Monday, while the euro inched up to $1.0754 from a three-year trough of $1.0635.

The US dollar index stood at 102.120, off a three-year peak of 102.99.

Gold surged in the wake of the Fed's promise of yet more cheap money and was last at $1,564.51 per ounce having rallied from a low of $1,484.65 on Monday.

Oil prices also bounced after recent savage losses, with US crude up 64 cents at $24.00 barrel. Brent crude firmed 53 cents to $27.56.

SOURCE: Reuters news agency

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