/biz/ - Business & Finance

HSI drops over 3%, Nikkei bounces back on stimulus

Hong Kong stocks continued to fall steeply as another US interest rate cut and fresh stimulus measures failed to lift investor confidence, but Japan market soared after the central bank unveiled sweeping stimulus measures.

The Hang Seng Index fell over 3 percent, over 600 points to 23,299 soon after by the lunch break.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index swung wildly and jumped nearly 2 percent in the minutes after the central bank announced emergency monetary policy measures.

The Bank of Japan said it would double its annual capacity to purchase exchange-traded funds and Japan real estate investment funds. But it left its main interest rate unchanged at minus 0.1 percent and also kept its upper limit for purchasing government bonds at 80 trillion yen.

Australia's main share index fell 9.7 percent, the largest ever percentage drop as the energy and industrial sectors declined by more than 15 percent.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.6 percent, to 2,871 while the Shenzhen Composite Index shed 1.1 percent, to 1,779.

https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1514661-20200316.htm