Asia: Markets rally as Federal Reserve unveils 'game changer' support measures

[HONG KONG] Asian markets and crude prices surged while the dollar sank on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve unveiled an unprecedented bond-buying programme to support the US economy.

While most of the planet goes into lockdown, traders gave a massive thumbs up to the US central bank's pledge to essentially print cash in a move not seen since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago.

The Fed, which has already slashed interest rates to record lows, said it will buy unlimited amounts of Treasury debt and take steps to lend directly to small- and medium-sized firms hammered by a lockdown across the country.

The plan failed to inspire US traders, with all three main indexes on Wall Street sliding, but equities in Asia flew out of the blocks with Tokyo ending the morning 6.7 per cent higher.

The Nikkei was given extra lift by a Bank of Japan decision to embark on its own massive bond-buying scheme.

Seoul was up more than six per cent, Hong Kong and Singapore each rose more than four per cent, and Wellington and Taipei surged more than five per cent apiece.

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Sydney gained three per cent, while Shanghai, Jakarta and Manila were up more than one per cent.

AxiCorp's Stephen Innes said the region was waking up to "the most significant monetary experiment in the history of financial markets".

"Asian investors like what they see from an all-in Fed, which is being viewed in a very impressive light for both Main and Wall Street, even as the US congress dithers," he added.

And Edward Moya at Oanda called the announcement "a game changer".

SENATE GRIDLOCK

But Mr Innes pointed out that US senators remain gridlocked, with Democrats on Monday again blocking a nearly US$2 trillion rescue package for the economy.

"The US senate should be drawing on the experience of its failure to act fast in the 2008 crisis," he said.

"Instead, it has yet again failed to act responsibly in the 2020 crisis. The proposed economic stimulus package is massive, but the longer the delay, the more colossal it will need to be to appease the markets."

With an expected flood of dollars into financial markets, the greenback suffered a rare sell-off, having surged for the past few weeks.

It lost almost four per cent against the Australian dollar, three per cent against the New Zealand dollar and more than one per cent to the South Korean won, Russian ruble and Turkish lira.

It was also lower against its major peers, with the euro up more than one percent.

The weaker dollar also helped lift crude, which has been hammered to multi-year lows by a crash in demand owing to the global lockdown as well as a price war between producers Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Mr Moya warned that prices would likely fall again as global lockdown efforts hammer demand.

"Oil is only rallying because the Fed's unprecedented measures finally stopped the stronger dollar," he said.

"Crude prices will have wild swings, but no one is expecting the bottom to be already in place."

AFP