Asian stocks recovered but struggled to hold onto gains

Asia Pacific stock exchanges closed Tuesday with bullish results, except for slight losses in Indonesia and Vietnam. The recovery of US equity futures boosted the stocks and pushed regional currencies against the dollar. 

In Singapore, the city-state stock market advanced 37.37 points, 1.22%, and the Straits Times composite indicator remained at 3,108.53 units.

In Malaysia, the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange gained 12.97 points or 0.8%, and the selective KLCI ended at 1,624.78 units.

In the Philippines, the Manila stock exchange recovered 9.91 points, 0.15%, and the PSEi composite index remained at 6,766.83 points.

In Thailand, the Bangkok stock market gained 6.83 points or 0.44 percent, and the SET index remained at 1,550.59 units.

In Indonesia, the Jakarta stock market fell 48.82 integers, 0.78 percent, and the JCI index closed at 6,199.65 points.

In Vietnam, the VN Index of the Ho Chi Minh stock exchange (the former Saigon) closed with 1,161.97 units after losing 0.54%.

Investors returned to risky assets

On Wednesday, Asian stocks markets lost their early momentum. It happened after investors returned to risky assets overnight, confident that the US will soon approve a massive stimulus package.

The Nikkei 225 gave up early gains to trade near flat. The Topix index also remained a little limited. After the market’s flat opening, South Korea’s Kospi pulled back gains of more than 1%. Meanwhile, the Kosdaq rose 0.27%.

In Australia, the benchmark ASX 200 could not maintain early gains and dropped 0.31%. The energy sector fell by 2.11% as oil prices remained under pressure. The heavily-weighted financials subindex and the materials index were also slipping by 0.76% and 1.92%, respectively.

Chinese stocks saw gains after yesterday’s collapse

After yesterday’s drop, Chinese mainland shares increased. The Shanghai Composite rose by 0.22%. Meanwhile, the Shenzhen component jumped 0.83%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index advanced by 0.33%.

Confidence in Asia was bolstered by the intervention of the Chinese authorities to prop up the market. The Chinese authorities are expected to continue to intervene to avoid any significant panic or market distortion.

Treasury yields remained slightly lower. At the same time, the Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 3.7% and posted its best day since November.

According to a note from analysts at ANZ Research this morning, Global equities pushed higher as risk appetite returned. Investor confidence increased by expectations that the US President’s $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus package will soon be approved.