Asian Stocks turn mixed, oil rebounds in choppy trade

Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday after two sessions of sharp gains as investors tempered their optimism about the coronavirus while death tolls were still mounting across the globe.

While the number of COVID-19 hospitalisations seemed to be levelling off in New York state, deaths across the United States jumped by a record of more than 1,800.

Mainland China’s new coronavirus cases also doubled in 24 hours due to infected travellers returning from overseas.

Adding to the uncertainty were wild swings in the oil market, where prices rebounded in Asia after sliding on Tuesday, leaving traders feeling dizzy.

U.S. crude futures jumped 6.4% to $25.18 a barrel, having shed 9.4% the session before, while Brent crude added $1.02 to $32.89.

The erratic action was mirrored in equities with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan first falling almost 1% before clawing back to be little changed.

Japan’s Nikkei stood out with a rise of 2.3% as the confirmation of a state of emergency led some to buy back hard-hit transport and retail stocks. Shanghai blue chips lost 0.3%.

E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 recovered from an early drop to rise 1%, while EUROSTOXX 50 futures eased 0.3% and FTSE futures 0.5%.

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