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· Asian shares sank on Monday as a rising tide of national lockdowns threatened to overwhelm policymakers’ frantic efforts to cushion what is likely to be a deep global recession.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 3.8%, with New Zealand’s market shedding a record 10% as the government closed all non-essential businesses.

There was little to cheer in coronavirus news as the global death toll exceeded over 14,000 with more than 300,000 infections.

Airlines canceled more flights as Australia and New Zealand advised against non-essential domestic travel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) halted flights for two weeks and Singapore and Taiwan banned foreign transit passengers.

· Japan’s share benchmark Nikkei rebounded strongly on Monday, on optimism the Tokyo Olympics will not be cancelled after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) flagged the possibility of a postponement of the Games for the first time.

The prospect of a postponement rather than cancellation of the Toyko Games due to start in July helped Japanese shares buck the global trend. Markets in the region plummeted on Monday on recession fears as more countries around the world adopted draconian measures to contain the spreading coronavirus.

Hopes of the Bank of Japan buying Exchanged Traded Funds (ETFs) more aggressively and public pension funds rebalancing their stock portfolio following recent sell-offs also lent support to the market.

The Nikkei average gained 2.0% to 16,887.78, off a 3-1/2-year low of 16,378.94 touched last Tuesday.

But overall sentiment remained fragile as U.S. stock futures and Asian shares sank as a rising tide of national lockdowns threatened to overwhelm policymakers’ frantic efforts to cushion what is likely to be a deep global recession.

· China stocks on Monday closed at their lowest in more than a year as worldwide lockdowns and travel curbs to counter the coronavirus pandemic stoked fears of a global recession.

The blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 fell 3.4% to 3,530.31, its lowest since Feb. 22, 2019, while the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC dropped 3.1% to 2,660.17, the weakest since Feb. 11, 2019.