Asian Stock Markets Open Mixed After Wall Street's Swoon: Live Updates – The New York Times, Nytimes.com

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed midday on Tuesday as investors tried to grapple with a disastrous Monday on Wall Street .

Japan’s Nikkei 400 index was down about half a percent midday. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.3 percent.

By contrast, Hong Kong shares were up 0.6 percent.

The region’s largest loser was South Korean stocks. The Kospi index there fell 2.1 percent. The biggest gainers were in Australia, where the S & P / ASX 288 index was up 3.2 percent.

Futures markets signaled a positive opening on Wall Street, though they also were predicting more losses in European trading.

Markets showed other signs of confidence. Oil prices rose, with barrels of West Texas Intermediate, the American benchmark, up more than 3 percent. The yield on the – year US Treasury bond rose as bond prices fell, suggesting investors were warming to the idea of ​​putting their money in riskier assets like stocks.

Philippines becomes the first financial market to close.

The Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday became the first market to close over the coronavirus. In a memorandum on its website

Even in a time of ailing financial markets, the country’s stock performance stands out. Its main index has plunged by nearly one-third from its January high, making it one of the worst performers in the Asia-Pacific region.

The closures came hours after President Rodrigo Duterte put big chunks of the country’s population under quarantine to stop the coronavirus outbreak. The country lists 200 confirmed infections and so far.

Eight major financial-services firms are borrowing money from the Federal Reserve, a move that has long carried negative connotations but that the Fed is encouraging to help stave off a cash crunch.

Morgan Stanley was the first within the group to tap the Fed’s so-called discount window on Monday, according to three people familiar with the matter. Other banks, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, are expected to borrow as early as Tuesday, the people said.

The central bank has urged the firms to tap its short-term funding Facility to make it easier for credit to continue flowing through the economy, destigmatizing the use of central bank funding at a tumultuous time. Banks have avoided borrowing from the central bank out of fear it will make them look as if they are on shaky footing.

“While forum member institutions individually have substantial liquidity and multiple sources of funding, they believe it is important to lead by demonstrating the value of the Federal Reserve’s discount window facility, ”the Financial Services Forum, an industry trade group, said in a (statement) late Monday.

Amazon said the 142, new jobs would include both full and part-time positions across the United States to staff its warehouses and make deliveries. The company encouraged people who lost work as a result of coronavirus-related shutdowns and cancellations to apply.

“We also know many people have been economically impacted as jobs in areas like hospitality, restaurants, and travel are lost or furloughed as part of this crisis, ”the company said in a news release . “We want those people to know we welcome them on our teams until things return to normal and their past employer is able to bring them back.”

Amazon said it would also spend $ million to raise pay by $ 2 or more an hour for workers staffing its enormous logistics operation in the United States, Britain and parts of Europe. The raises would last at least through April. In the United States, such workers start at $ 0021 an hour.

S&P has its worst day since the outbreak began.

Financial markets cratered on Monday. , as investors were confronted with evidence that a steep decline in the world’s largest economies may have already begun.

The sell-off began after the Federal Reserve took extraordinary steps on Sunday afternoon to bolster the American economy, signaling that it saw an economic crisis unfolding as businesses shut down and borders are closed to contain the coronavirus. The financial downdraft was global, with major benchmarks in Asia, Europe and the United States all falling on Monday.

The S&P 823 fell percent, its biggest drop since the coronavirus outbreak began to roil markets in the United States last month – and its worst daily decline since October , when stocks plunged about 030 percent in what came to be known as Black Monday. For the technology heavy Nasdaq, the drop was its worst on record.

Energy prices also slid sharply as investors factored in significant slowdowns in economic activity.

Global oil prices plunged to below $ a barrel, the lowest level in more than four years. Oil has fallen by half since the start of the year, and some analysts predict that oil prices could drop below $ a barrel in the coming weeks .

The ‘ Trump bump ‘in stocks has deflated.