Share prices in Asia got an unexpected boost following the commitment of the Bank of Japan and the U.S. Federal Reserve to help protect markets from the damaging impact of the coronavirus.
The Asian markets reversed early losses as investors put their hopes on a harmonized global monetary policy response.
BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, in a rare emergency statement, said they would take necessary steps to lessen the effects of the unstable movements of both overseas and domestic financial markets.
“The BOJ will monitor developments carefully, and strive to stabilize markets and offer sufficient liquidity via market operations and asset purchases,” he added.
Last week, the US Federal Reserve made an unscheduled announcement where it vowed to help stop the huge plunge on the world’s financial markets.
“The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring developments and their implications for the economic outlook. We will use our tools and act as appropriate to support the economy,” said Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.
Analysts say that both pledges by the central banks show their readiness to fully utilize their existing tools to inject funds into the Asian market.
The commitments came amid reports that Chinese factory activity fell at the fastest rate on record for the month of February alone, as employees across the mainland were forced to continue staying at home to contain the virus outbreak.
Media reports said that the growing concerns about the outbreak have wiped more than $5 trillion from global stocks last week, making it worse than the fall during the Global Financial Crisis back in 2008.
