Shares open higher on Wall Street after deal on virus aid

Asian shares gained on Wednesday in the wake of Wall Street’s massive rebound as U.S. senators and Trump administration officials reached an agreement on a giant economic stimulus bill to alleviate the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

European benchmark stock futures rose more than 1% in early trade but U.S. stock futures were down 1% as the news about the deal invited profit-taking after big gains the previous day.

“No doubt it’s a positive development that they’ve agreed… But once it is approved the question is how it is implemented,” said Jason Teh, chief investment officer at Vertium Asset Management in Sydney.

“It’s good the authorities are going to throw everything at it. But if the virus is not controlled in the U.S., then they’re going to have to throw another trillion dollars.”

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 3.4% while Japan’s Nikkei surged 6.9%.

The U.S. S&P500 is still down almost 28% from its record peak hit just over a month ago.

Currency

In the currency market, the dollar slipped as a greenback liquidity crunch loosened slightly.
The euro traded at $1.0808 up 0.15% after four straight days of gains.
The dollar stood flat at 111.16 yen, off a one-month high of 111.715 touched the previous day.

Gold Price

Gold changed hands at $1,610.0 per ounce retaining its gains of almost 5% on Tuesday, its biggest jump since 2008.