Asian markets build on global rally, virus fears ease

Asian markets on Wednesday extended this week's global rally following a fresh record in New York, while safe havens retreated as concerns about the impact of the deadly China virus eased.

Despite Beijing announcing that almost 500 people had died from the outbreak and more than 24,000 were infected, analysts said traders were taking heart from the fact that the spread outside China had not spiralled.

Moves by Chinese authorities to support mainland stocks were also providing cheer, with the central bank pumping tens of billions of dollars into financial markets and the government easing restrictions on equities trading.

There had been a worry that the virus could hammer the global and Chinese economies, which had been showing signs of stabilising in recent months following a protracted growth slowdown.

World Bank head David Malpass said the group plans to lower its global growth forecast owing to an expected hit to China and the likely impact on global supply chains.

In morning trade, Shanghai rose 1.9%, building on the previous day's 1.3% advance and digging further into the losses of more almost 8% suffered on Monday. Hong Kong rose 0.9% and Tokyo went into the break more than one percent higher.

Sydney gained 0.3%, Singapore was up 0.5% and Seoul climbed 0.8%, with Manila, Taipei, Jakarta and Wellington also well in positive territory.

"After a very cold end to last week and a negative post-holiday catch up move by China's equity market on Monday, markets have now embarked on a new rebound," said Rodrigo Catril of National Australia Bank.

He said the gains had been "spurred by China's efforts to support its economy alongside an apparent decline in concerns over the coronavirus impact on the global economy".

AxiCorp strategist Stephen Innes also pointed out that central bankers were showing limited worry about the long-term impact of the outbreak, adding that "markets look to be shrugging off coronavirus concerns. At least for now."