Asian Stocks Mixed as Volatility Continues 

By Alex Ho 

Investing.com – Asian markets were mixed on Wednesday morning, as Japanese stocks outperforming its regional peers following the release of data that showed the country’s exports fell less than expected last month

In Japan, provisional data released by the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday showed a 1% drop in year-on-year in February, less than the 4.3% predicted by analysts.  

The rose 1.83% by 11:30 PM ET (3:30 GMT) whilst neighbouring South Korea’s is down by 0.48%. 

Hong Kong’s rose 0.1%. China’s was up 0.85%  and the gained 1.10%. 

Australia’s reversed its gains yesterday by losing 4.93%. 

Stock markets continued to see saw but may find some support from fiscal stimulus being deployed by central banks.  

In the U.S., as much as $1 trillion could be pumped into the economy, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said overnight. This could include direct payments to Americans not unlike the HK$10,000 ($1,288) that Hong Kong proposed last month to all permanent residents.  

Overnight, the tech heavy led gains and closed up 6.23%, the  30 rose 5.20% increase and the gained 5.39%. 

“This is a little bit unlike anything else we’ve had before because of the unknown length and the unknown implications of it,” JJ Kinahan, TD Ameritrade’s chief market strategist, told Bloomberg. “We’ll “continue to see these crazy swings.” 

“It’s pretty clear that there is potentially more downside to come,” Henrik Johnsson, Deutsche Bank’s global co-head of capital markets, told Bloomberg. “This has much further to run and we’re only at the beginning of social isolation in Europe and the U.S., and the effects on the real economy are still to be felt.”