• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

Asian stocks defy stimulus, slides for third day in week

Asian stocks

Sell-offs persisted on the Asian and Pacific stock markets Wednesday as stimulus packages by governments were largely ignored by investors.

MSCI’s broad measure of Asian and Pacific stocks excluding Japan was down 6.1% as at 8:40 GMT+1.

Australia saw a reversal of yesterday’s gains falling S&P/ASX 200 slid 6.43 per cent as the government warned that the Covid-19 crisis would likely persist for at least six months.

China’s Shanghai composite index slipped 1.83 percent, amid complete sell-off in Asia’s biggest market. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 3.53 percent despite its Central Bank purchase of ¥120bn ($1.1bn) Japanese equities on Tuesday.

Although the broad Asian and Pacifc markets were down, New Zealand stocks advanced in the day while some Japanese indices closed in green.

 

SEGUN ADAMS