(UTV|Coronavirus pandemic) – Asian stocks have fallen as worries about the coronavirus pandemic eclipsed hopes that major stimulus plans would ease the impact of the outbreak.
It came after Wall Street’s main indexes rebounded by more than 5% on Tuesday following Monday’s steep falls.
In the US, the Trump administration outlined a $1 trillion (£830bn) package to support the world’s biggest economy.
At the same time the UK has revealed details of its own stimulus measures, including £330bn of business loans.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 1.7%, the Hang Seng in Hong was down by 1.9%, and China’s Shanghai Composite fell by 0.5%. US stock market futures were also indicating a weaker open for Wall Street.
Earlier US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he supports sending money directly to Americans as part of a $1tn stimulus aimed at averting an economic crisis caused by the coronavirus.
“We’re looking at sending cheques to Americans immediately,” he said.
The $250bn in cheques are part of a huge aid package which the White House is discussing with Congress.
A $1tn aid package – roughly the size of the entire UK budget – would be larger than the US response to the 2008 financial crisis, amounting to nearly a quarter of what the US federal government spent last year.
The UK government has also unveiled a package of financial measures to shore up the economy against the coronavirus impact.
It includes £330bn in loans, £20bn in other aid, a business rates holiday, and grants for retailers and pubs. Help for airlines is also being considered.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak told a news conference that it was an “economic emergency. Never in peacetime have we faced an economic fight like this one.”
In Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is reportedly forming a panel of key economic ministers and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda to discuss measures to prop up an economy hit by the fallout from the coronavirus epidemic.
The move would put Japan in line with nations across the globe preparing measures to combat the impact of the coronavirus that has pushed economies around the world towards recession. (Foreign Media Reports)