Asian Stocks, Stimulus Package and Investor Sentiment

The world has become a global village. As a result, cutting-edge technologies are available even in the most remote areas. However, when it comes to stocks one minor incident could affect the markets across the world. 

Ongoing coronavirus outbreak is a major threat for the global economy. On Wednesday, stocks across the Asia Pacific region mostly fell in another day of turbulent trade. Coronavirus outbreak continues to spread around the globe, this factor continues to influence investor sentiment. 

On March 18, South Korea’s Kospi index saw significant losses and the index fell 4.86% to close at 1,591.20. At the same time, another South Korean index Kosdaq slipped 5.75% to 485.14. 

Interestingly, Australian stocks experienced bigger losses in comparison with other stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 6.43% to close at 4.953.20. It is not surprising as major sectors fell on Wednesday. 

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 3.49% as of its final hour of trading. 

Mainland Chinese stocks also fell on Wednesday. The Shanghai composite dropped 1.83% to about 2,728.76. Meanwhile, the Shenzhen component fell 1.7% to 10,029.57. The Shenzhen composite declined 1.554% to around 1,678.25. 

Japanese stocks were mixed on March 18. The Nikkei 225 index fell 1.68% to close at 16,726.55. In the meantime, the Topix index ended its trading day 0.19% higher at 1,270.84.

Stocks and stimulus package

The Trump administration is weighing a fiscal stimulus package worth anywhere from $850 billion to more than $1 trillion. Moreover, some of the funds may be used to provide financial assistance to citizens. 

Other countries such as U.K.,Spain, France and Germany also made a similar decision. They are going to spend billions of euros to support their economies.