Major Asian markets moved sharply higher Tuesday. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed up 4.2%. Japan's Nikkei 225 (N225) gained 5.5%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng (HSI) gained 3.7%, and China's Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) was up 1%.
South Korea's Kospi (KOSPI) surged more than 6%. The government there announced Tuesday that it will double its emergency financial support for businesses to 100 trillion Korean won ($80 billion).
Korea's plan is the latest in a string of moves policymakers are taking to counter the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, the US Federal Reserve massively accelerated its rescue plans by announcing unlimited bond-buying, three new credit facilities and an upcoming Main Street lending program.
"Asian investors like what they see from an all-in Fed," wrote Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at AxiCorp, in a Tuesday note.
Innes pointed out that stocks are gaining Tuesday even as a massive stimulus package meant to help Americans handle the coronavirus pandemic languishes in Congress.
While US stocks ended Monday in the red after that bill failed to move forward, futures are rising after hours. Dow (INDU) futures were last up nearly 800 points, or about 4.3%. S&P 500 (SPX) futures were up about 4.4% and Nasdaq (COMP) futures increased 4.3%.
The US dollar, meanwhile, pulled back against major Asian currencies during Asian trading hours Tuesday after a surge on Monday. The greenback weakened more than 1% versus the Australian dollar, while also falling more than 1% against the New Zealand dollar. It softened 1% versus the Korean won.
Even with Tuesday's gains, most of Asia remains in a bear market. The S&P/ASX 200, Nikkei, Kospi and Hang Seng all crossed that threshold earlier this month, which is defined as a drop of 20% from an earlier high.
"I think it's too early to call the bottom quite yet," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK. "It still isn't clear how bad the economic damage is likely to be and while a rally today is to be welcomed, the possibility of another leg lower remains a real possibility."
Innes said he thinks the actions from the Fed "will effectively paper over the cracks for now." But as more data that captures the severity of the economic tumult rolls in, he said, "the big equity market buyers will stay in cash and remain nervous about stepping back in until data improves."
Separately, shares in Japanese conglomerate SoftBank (SFTBY SOFTBANK) skyrocketed 17% on Tuesday in Tokyo, adding to the stock's big gains on Monday.
Investors are cheering the company's surprise announcement that it will sell $41 billion worth of assets to buy back shares and reduce debt. SoftBank stock is still down more than 19% for the year.
— CNN's Yoonjung Seo in Seoul, Sherisse Pham in Hong Kong, and Matt Egan in New York contributed to this report.
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Asian markets and US stock futures rise as policymakers try to blunt the coronavirus pain - CNN
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