Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 2.13%, Shanghai Composite down 0.19%, Hang Seng down 1.62%, ASX down 0.86%
- Commodities : Gold at $1691.20 (+0.45%), Silver at $15.34 (-0.90%), Brent Oil at $32.46 (+1.85%), WTI Oil at $24.75 (+4.74%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 0.718, UK 10-year yield at 0.388, Germany 10-year yield at -0.348
News & Data:
- (NZD) ANZ Business Confidence -73.1 vs -63.5 previous
- (AUD) Cash Rate 0.25% vs 0.25% expected
- (AUD) Trade Balance 4.36B vs 3.75B expected
- Japan’s Economy in Emergency Set to Shrink 25%, Goldman Says
- China’s Wuhan Officially Lifts Lockdown – BBG
Markets Update:
Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Wednesday after the Trump administration warned that the coronavirus pandemic could kill as many as 250,000 Americans and that the next two weeks will be “very painful”.
In economic news, China’s Caixin PMI indicated a slight expansion in manufacturing, while Japan’s big manufacturers turned pessimistic for the first time in more than seven years, separate reports showed.
Chinese shares ended lower as the National Health Commission reported 36 new cases of coronavirus infection for the mainland, with all but one from people arriving from abroad. The Shanghai composite is down 0.19% while the Shenzhen composite slipped 0.16%. In Japan, stocks saw a turnaround after an earlier slip, with the Nikkei 225 rising 2.1%. Over in South Korea, the Kospi closed 0.9% lower.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 100.264 after touching an earlier low of 99.902. The U.S. dollar eased 0.1% on the safe-haven yen to 108.80, while the euro dipped 0.2% to $1.0865.
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