Asian stocks managed to close mostly higher today on central banks’ monetary stimulus hopes amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Stocks rallied in the morning Asian trading session mirroring the strong rebound in Wall Street, but the indices gave up some of the gains. A slump in global economic activity due to coronavirus outbreak in over 50 countries around the globe has led global equities to lose over 10% in the previous week.
The Reserve Bank of Australia cut the interest rates by 25 basis points in an attempt to offset the impact of the coronavirus spread. Bank of Japan and Federal Reserve signalled a policy response on Friday while Italy will inject more than 3.5 billion euros in the already battered economy.
Nikkei 225 in Tokyo finished 1.22% lower at 21,082. The Shanghai Composite index closed 0.74% higher at 2992. The Singapore FTSE Straits Times closed up 0.55% at 3024. Hang Seng in Hong Kong ended 0.25% higher at 26351. The ASX 200 benchmark also managed to rebound and added 0.70% higher at 6435.
European stocks started higher in the trading session. The German DAX is 2.09% higher at 12,108. CAC40 index is 1.73% higher at 5,425, while the FTSE MIB in Milan is 1.67% higher at 22,022. In London, the FTSE 100 is 1.89% higher at 6,781.
In the commodities markets, the crude oil also managed to rebound today, the WTI crude oil is 1.50% higher at $47.44. Brent oil is 0.53% lower at $52.47 per barrel. The gold price also trades higher today. The precious metal is .50% higher at 1597. The gold outlook is bullish, and the first resistance will be met at $1,689 the recent high, while the support stands at $1,600 the recent low. Silver price is 0.35% higher at $16.77.
The digital currencies retreat today and continue the consolidation above 8500. Bitcoin (BTCUSD) is 1.77% lower at $8,752 hitting the daily low at $8,739 and the daily high at $8,960. Bitcoin’s technical outlook is neutral now as the cryptocurrency is trapped between the 50 and 100-day moving average. First support for BTCUSD stands now at $8,400 the low from Friday’s trading session. On the upside, the first resistance stands at 8960 the daily high and then at 10,495 the yearly top.
Ethereum (ETHUSD) trades 2.12% lower at 227.05 with capitalization at 25.03 billion. The initial resistance for ETHUSD stands at $274.18, the February high while the first support stands at $213.47 the February low. Ripple is 2.28 lower at 0.2337. Litecoin is 1.95% lower at 60.27. The crypto market capitalization stands now at $251.33 billion.
In the Lookout: The Switzerland Gross Domestic Product came in at 0.3% beating expectations of 0.2% in the fourth quarter.
Japan Consumer Confidence Index registered at 38.4, below expectations (40.6) in February
RBA cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.5%, from 0.75%.
Trading Perspective: In the foreign exchange markets, the Aussie dollar is 0.32 higher at 0.6557 against the USD. The US dollar index is 0.11% higher at 97.61. NZDUSD trades 0.02% higher at 0.6261. The USDCHF pair is 0.14% lower at 0.9574.
