Coronavirus: Asian stocks rise as outbreak eases in Europe
Asian stocks rose for a second day on signs that the coronavirus outbreak may be starting to recede in Europe and plateau in New York.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 2.3 per cent, and this week has undone most of last week’s losses after prime minister Shinzo Abe promised a massive $991bn economic stimulus package due to the coronavirus crisis.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan pared early gains, but rose almost 1 per cent despite the fact that global coronavirus cases kept rising.
“The market is front running what it believes is a peak in the virus case count with Europe leading the way,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Melbourne brokerage Pepperstone, told Reuters.
“You can almost smell the fear of missing out from active managers.”
Meanwhile the FTSE 100 is set to open up 1.47 per cent despite the fact that Boris Johnson was admitted to intensive care last night with worsening coronavirus symptoms.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: “In the UK, things are about to get more serious with Boris Johnson being moved to intensive care after having contracted the coronavirus.
“Not only that the number of cases are expected to surge in the UK for the next two weeks, but the forced change in the head office of the government may also shake things, with Dominic Raab who had been defeated in last year’s Conservative elections finding a sweet spot to prove his leadership to the country during a time of severe health crisis and economic distress. “
She added: “In the coming weeks, Raab must make life-or-death decisions for the UK, including the duration of the lockdown, investment in medical equipment, government aid for those who have lost their revenues, and/or their jobs and so on.”