Asia Stocks Face Volatility as the Virus Outbreak Continues to Weigh the Market Down

Asia stocks were mixed on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, with Australia stocks dropping nearly 5% after a rebound in Wall Street last night.

 

As of 9:23 local time in Thailand, Nikkei rose 1.52%, SSEC edged 0.84% higher while HSI just dropped from slightly up to 0.04% down, ASX 200 plunged 4.78% and Kospi dropped 0.33%.

 

Stocks in Wall Street edged higher on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, as the Trump administration is seeking a stimulus package over $1 trillion to aid American affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,048.79 points or 5.2% to close at 21,237.31 points, S&P 500 jumped 6% to 2,529.19 points and Nasdaq gained 6.2% to 7,334.78 points.

 

Japan’s exports declined 1% in February when compared to the same period of last year, according to data released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance earlier on Wednesday. However, the drop was better-than-expected when compared to a 4.3% drop expected by Reuters poll.

The development of coronavirus outbreak will continue to hinder global markets while there are no new positive factors to buoy the market from concerns over the outbreak.