· Asian stocks rose on Friday as investors wagered policymakers will roll out more stimulus measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic after U.S. unemployment filings surged to a record.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.8%. Australian shares gave up gains to fall 4.55% after a strong week, but Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.92%.
· Japan’s share benchmark Nikkei rebounded on Friday and logged its biggest weekly gain on record as policymakers around the world launched a raft of stimulus efforts to mitigate the economic damage from the coronavirus.
The Nikkei average rose 3.9% to 19,389.43 points, recouping most of the 4.5% losses suffered on Thursday. The index jumped more than 200 points in the final minute of trade on passive investors’ buying to reinvest expected dividend payments.
· China stocks rose on Friday to end the week higher, boosted by hopes of more stimulus to shield the world’s second-largest economy from the coronavirus pandemic.
The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.3%, to 3,710.06, while the Shanghai Composite Index also added 0.3% to 2,772.20.
The latest dismal economic readings reinforced hopes Beijing would roll out more monetary and fiscal measures to bolster its economy.
Profits at China’s industrial firms slumped in the first two months of the year to their lowest in at least a decade, with the mining, manufacturing and power sectors all seeing sharp falls as the virus outbreak battered China’s economy.
· European markets closed higher Thursday after U.S. jobless claims ballooned to a record high amid the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up 1.8%, reversing earlier losses, with travel and leisure stocks climbing almost 6% and autos slipping marginally into negative territory.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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