Asia Stocks Rise, Easing the Worst Week Since May: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks halted a six-day losing streak, and China’s yuan steadied, as investors weigh the short-term economic damage of the coronavirus against the increasingly decisive moves to contain the epidemic.

Equities were higher from Tokyo and Seoul to Hong Kong and Sydney, though came off their highs Friday after the U.S. raised its warning against travel to China. Treasuries were little changed, while oil prices recouped most of their Thursday loss. U.S. futures edged up after the S&P 500 Index closed higher in a late-session rebound.

Economic indicators and corporate earnings reports have largely shown that global growth was brightening before the coronavirus hit; Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:). reported a blow-out quarter late Thursday, and Friday Japan unveiled a pick-up in industrial output.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index is still heading for the worst weekly slide since May 2019, when the U.S.-China trade war roiled markets. China faces a turbulent reopening of financial markets on Monday, when mainland stocks will need to catch up with the sell-off since they last traded Jan. 23.

While the epidemic that began in China continues to spread and the human toll mounts, the World Health Organization Thursday commended China’s efforts to contain the disease. It declared a global health emergency, acting after many airlines around the world had already decided to halt flights to China, with some countries closing borders to the nation.

Tesla (NASDAQ:) Inc. expects a production delay in China, McDonald’s Corp. and Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:). closed thousands of stores combined in the country while Apple Inc (NASDAQ:). is preparing for supply-chain disruptions. Cutting against the coronavirus news, Amazon topped a $1 trillion market capitalization in after-hours trading after reporting a 21% surge in fourth-quarter sales and profit that crushed Wall Street estimates.

Here are some events still to watch out for this week:

• Chevron (NYSE:), Caterpillar (NYSE:) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE:) report earnings on Friday.
• The U.K. is scheduled to leave the European Union Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• Japan’s Index was up 0.9% as of 12:03 p.m in Tokyo.
• S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.3%.
• Kospi Index rose 0.2%.
• Futures on the S&P 500 Index were little changed.
• {{28930|FTSE Ch climbed 1.6%.
• was up 0.5%.

Currencies

• The Japanese yen was little changed at 109.05 per dollar.
• The was little changed at 6.9804 per dollar.
• The euro was flat at $1.1025.

Bonds

• Yields on 10-year Treasuries were little changed at 1.59%.
• Australian 10-year yields were at 0.96%.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2% to $53.19 a barrel.
• Gold was at $1,572.31 an ounce.

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