Asian markets lifted by hopes on virus but oil in retreat
Asian markets rose Monday as some of the world’s worst-hit countries reported falling death rates, providing some much-needed hope in the battle against the coronavirus, though oil prices were rocked after a meeting of top producers was delayed.
While the disease continues its deadly sweep across the planet, with more than 1.25 million now infected and nearly 70,000 dead, news out of Europe that fatalities were easing has lifted spirits on trading floors.
Italy reported its lowest daily toll in two weeks, while Spanish officials said deaths fell for the third straight day and France reported its lowest daily toll in a week.
Meanwhile, South Korea saw its fewest new cases in six weeks, while Donald Trump said the US was showing signs of stabilising, despite the number of cases there passing 335,000 — the highest in the world.
The virus “appears to be reaching a peak in Europe, with Italy seeing the number of patients in intensive care falling for the second consecutive day”, said National Australia Bank’s Tapas Strickland.
“Note, Italy imposed a countrywide lockdown on March 9, and so is supportive of the view that the virus peaks and peters out after 15-30 days following a strict lockdown. Focus in markets will now turn to the path out of lockdown and to what extent containment measures can be lifted without risking a second wave of infections.”
And Lindsey Piegza, at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., told Bloomberg TV she was hopeful that the crisis can be brought under control and the US economy reopened “by the end of April, early May”.
“If that does occur, it’s likely that we’re able to control the downturn from a depressionary scenario into a recessionary scenario”.
The relatively upbeat news lifted Asian markets, which shrugged off data Friday showing a massive drop in US jobs in March that added to news that millions of people had applied for unemployment benefits.
Tokyo went into the break more than two percent higher, while Sydney also piled on more than two percent on new infections in Australia showed signs of falling.
Seoul added nearly two percent, Hong Hong was up 1.1 percent and Singapore, Manila and Jakarta were all more than one percent higher. (AFP)
