US stocks recorded a fascinating rally on Monday. The Dow surged 5.09%, the S&P500 spiked 4.60% and Nasdaq gained 4.49% as equity
investors made a strong return on reassurance that the world’s leading central banks, including the Federal Reserve (Fed), the Bank of
England (BoE) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) would do whatever is in their power to fix the coronavirus chaos.
Most Asian stock markets
followed up on New York gains. The ASX 200 gained on improved risk appetite, recovery in oil prices and the 25-basis-point cut from the
Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). The Aussie held ground above the 65-cent mark against the greenback, as the RBA’s action was fully priced
in.
G7 finance ministers and central bankers will give a teleconference today to discuss their plan to combat the coronavirus shock
on the economy.
The Bank of Canada (BoC) is expected to lower its rates from 1.75% to 1.50% on Wednesday’s monetary policy meeting.
Shanghai’s
Composite (+0.74%) and Hang Seng (+0.24%) recovered for the second straight day, but stocks in Japan reversed earlier gains as consumer
confidence fell to 38.2 in February, the weakest since October, and the yen strengthened.
By Ipek Ozkardeskaya