Asian markets rise as coronavirus concerns ease

Markets in Asia-Pacific rose on Wednesday following ar positive le from Wall Street with investor sentiment mixed about immediate and long-term impact of coronavirus outbreak.

virus, officially named COVID-19 on Tuesday, has spooked markets around world, having killed more than 1,100 people and infected tens of thousands since it emerged in central China at end of last year.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 0.7 percent higher, while Shanghai ended day up 0.9 percent. In afteron tre elsewhere, Hong Kong put on 1.0 percent, Sydney gained 0.5 percent and Singapore rose 1.2 percent. Seoul, Taipei, and Wellington were also higher.

positive morning following fresh record closes by S&P 500 and Nasdaq in New York on Tuesday. "Despite doom and gloom being shown in real ecomy, Asian equity markets are a sea of green today. COVID-19 fears have been shrugged off, with regional markets preferring to follow Wall Street's le," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for Asia-Pacific at OANDA.

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"Unfortunately, seas of green are often associated with algal blooms, which tend to suffocate all life in water within m. rallies of past two days should be approached with caution." Trers reacted positively to cautious comments from US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on new coronavirus -- which has spre to more than two dozen countries and has been declared a global health emergency.

Fed boss told Congress members on Tuesday that central bank was closely monitoring virus and that its impact could spill over to world ecomy, but assessment was t as gloomy as many h expected. China, world's second-largest ecomy, is looking to recover momentum after authorities extended Lunar New Year break in a bid to stop spre of virus.

But millions of people remain in lockdown in many cities, where transport has also been severely restricted -- disrupting supply chains for key industries, including smartphones and cars. re are expectations that Beijing will introduce major stimulus policies to offset hit to ecomy.

re are concerns about how that will impact t only China's overall ecomic growth, but also bottom lines of many multinational firms. production lines of major auto makers such as GM and Hyundai have alrey been disturbed, and re is fear that airlines and hospitality and tourism sectors will also take a hit.

Many countries have imposed travel bans and quarantine requirements, and major carriers have suspended or dramatically cut back on flights to and from mainland China. Aviation consultancy Ascend by Cirium said this week that impact on industry could be worse than during 2002-03 SARS outbreak.

After tumbling on fears of decreased demand from China, world's largest importer and consumer of oil, crude prices continued ir recovery. Both main contracts were up on Tuesday, with Brent Crude rising 1.8 percent and West Texas Intermediate gaining 1.3 percent.

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