(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets failed to sustain early gains and slipped into negative territory on Thursday as initial euphoria over the European Central Bank's announcement of stimulus measures faded amid worries about the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The European Central Bank or ECB said it will buy 750 billion euro in bonds through 2020 to help support the European economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Australian market opened higher despite the overnight sell-off on Wall Street as investors went bargain hunting in early trading ahead of anticipated stimulus measures by the Reserve Bank of Australia later in the day.
However, the market erased its initial gains in volatile trading and slipped into negative territory amid a series of corporate earnings warnings due to the COVID-19 spread.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is declining 20.00 points or 0.40 percent to 4,933.20, after rising to a high of 5,102.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is losing 40.90 points or 0.82 percent to 4,957.90.
In the oil space, Oil Search is falling more than 10 percent, while Woodside Petroleum and Santos are losing more than 5 percent each after crude oil prices crashed to an eighteen-year low overnight.
Gold miners are also sharply lower after safe-haven gold prices lost 3 percent overnight. Evolution Mining is tumbling almost 8 percent and Newcrest Mining is losing more than 7 percent.
In the banking space, Commonwealth Bank is rising almost 3 percent, while Westpac is up 0.3 percent, ANZ Banking is adding 0.2 percent and National Australia Bank is edging up 0.1 percent.
Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining more than 9 percent, Fortescue Metals is higher by more than 8 percent and BHP is rising more than 3 percent.
Qantas Airways said it is suspending all international flights, delaying an interim payout of A$201 million, and standing down two-thirds of its workforce until the end of May due to the escalating COVID-19 pandemic. The airline's shares are falling more than 10 percent.
More companies, including Nine Entertainment, Adairs and BlueScope Steel, have withdrawn their earnings guidance due to the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. Homewares trader Adairs is tumbling more than 21 percent and Media giant Nine Entertainment is losing almost 8 percent, while BlueScope Steel is rising more than 6 percent.
In economic news, the RBA is expected to announce another 25 basis point reduction in the cash rate and a quantitative easing program later today.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said that the jobless rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 5.1 percent in February, beneath expectations for 5.3 percent, which would have been unchanged from the January reading.
The Australian economy added 26,700 jobs last month, beating forecasts for an increase of 6,300 jobs following the gain of 13,500 jobs in January.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the U.S. dollar on Thursday. The local unit was quoted at $0.5779, down from $0.5998 on Wednesday.
The Japanese market opened higher after the European Central Bank announced a 750 billion euros bond-buying program to combat the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. However, the market slipped into negative territory as mounting fears of a global recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic offset optimism about the ECB stimulus.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is declining 63.91 points or 0.38 percent to 16,662.64, after climbing to a high of 17,160.97 in early trades. Japanese stocks gave up early gains to close sharply lower on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, market heavyweight SoftBank is losing more than 7 percent and Fast Retailing is down 0.3 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is lower by almost 5 percent and Tokyo Electron is declining more than 3 percent.
In the oil sector, Inpex is losing more than 3 percent and Japan Petroleum is down 0.6 percent after crude oil prices crashed to an eighteen-year low overnight.
Meanwhile, the major exporters are higher on a weaker yen, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 4 percent, Panasonic is rising more than 3 percent, Sony is higher by almost 3 percent and Canon is advancing more than 1 percent.
In the auto sector, Honda Motor is climbing more than 5 percent and Toyota Motor is rising almost 4 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Unitika is gaining more than 16 percent, Concordia Financial is climbing almost 15 percent and Showa Denko is rising 12 percent.
On the flip side, Olympus Corp. is losing 9 percent, while Japan Steel Works, JGC Holdings and Isuzu Motors are lower by almost 8 percent each.
On the economic front, overall nationwide consumer prices in Japan were up 0.4 percent on year in February. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent and was down from 0.7 percent in January.
Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, rose 0.6 percent - in line with forecasts and down from 0.8 percent in the previous month.
Japan will also see January results for its all industry activity index today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 108 yen-range on Thursday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is falling more than 7 percent, Taiwan is tumbling almost 7 percent, Indonesia is losing more than 5 percent, and Hong Kong is lower by almost 5 percent.
Also, Singapore is down almost 4 percent, while New Zealand and Malaysia are declining more than 2 percent. Shanghai is down almost 2 percent.
On Wall Street, stocks pulled back sharply on Wednesday amid continued concerns about economic impact from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Dow plunged 1,338.46 points or 6.3 percent to 19,898.92, the Nasdaq plummeted 344.94 points or 4.7 percent to 6,989.84 and the S&P 500 tumbled 131.09 points or 5.2 percent to 2,398.10.
The major European markets also showed substantial moves to the downside on Wednesday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index plunged by 4.1 percent, while the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index plummeted by 5.6 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices crashed to their lowest level in about eighteen years on Wednesday as growing worries about an imminent recession due to the coronavirus outbreak raised concerns about global energy demand. WTI crude for April ended down $6.58 or 24 percent at $20.37 a barrel, the lowest settlement price since February 2002.
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