Chinese stocks fell more than 2% before rebounding on Tuesday. Shanghai’s Composite gained 0.57% and CSI 300 advanced 1.71% following
an early slump. Stocks in Hong Kong added 0.87%, as Nikkei (+0.50%) and ASX 200 (+0.37%) edged higher.
The Aussie rebounded past the
0.67 mark against the US dollar after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) maintained its benchmark rate unchanged at the historical low of
0.75% at today’s monetary policy meeting. Policymakers said that it is too early to determine the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the
Australian economy. But more importantly, the three rate cuts they delivered last year should give them some time to monitor the
implications of the wildfires and the coronavirus on the activity before taking another step.
US stock futures extended gains after
the S&P500 (+0.73%), Dow Jones (+0.51%) and Nasdaq (+1.43%) closed in the green on Monday. Mining and technology stocks led gains in New
York, but Alphabet shares fell 5% in the after trading as Google unveiled its Youtube advertising revenues for the first time and the numbers
broadly disappointed investors. Meanwhile, Google’s cloud business grew slower than the Microsoft’s, worrying investors that at the
current pace, the company would never catch up with the competition.
By Ipek Ozkardeskaya
