SYDNEY- Asian shares rallied for a fourth straight session as US markets swung sharply higher and another dose of central bank stimulus offered some salve for the global economic outlook.
Wall Street seemed to find relief in the strong performance of former Vice President Biden in the Democratic nomination campaign. Biden is considered less likely to raise taxes and impose new regulations than rival Bernie Sanders.
The US House of Representatives also approved an $8.3 billion funding bill to combat the spread of the virus, sending the emergency legislation to the Senate.
In another wild swing, the Dow surged 4.53 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 4.22 percent and the Nasdaq 3.85 percent. .N
Asian markets followed, if more cautiously. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.7 percent, in its fourth day of gains.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.9 percent and hard-hit Australian shares finally managed a bounce of 1.1 percent. Shanghai blue chips put on 1.3 percent.
E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 dipped 0.6 percent after its overnight jump, but EUROSTOXXX 50 futures rose 0.6 percent and FTSE futures 0.4 percent.
The upbeat sentiment comes despite the coronavirus crisis showing no signs of slowing, with mounting deaths globally, Italy closing all of its schools and California declaring a state of emergency as cases there grow.
“There is little doubt that the COVID-19 outbreak will slow global growth considerably this quarter, and we expect it to actually produce a rare non-recessionary contraction in GDP,” said JPMorgan economist Joseph Lupton.
He noted the bank’s all-industry PMI measure of activity for February slumped 6.1 points, the largest one-month drop on record, and at 46.1 was at the lowest since May 2009. — Reuters
