* ECB launches $850 bln bond buying program
* U.S. stock futures turn positive, euro rises
* ASX higher in early trade
* Asian stock markets : https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Tom Westbrook
SINGAPORE, March 19 (Reuters) - Asian stock markets fought
to stabilise on Thursday, as the latest promise of stimulus from
the European Central Bank propped up sentiment while the world
struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. stock futures EScv1 turned positive and Australia's
S&P/ASX 200 rose 2% after the ECB announced a bond-buying
programme. Nikkei futures NKc1 pointed to a positive open and
the euro EUR= found support. FRX/
The ECB will buy 750 billion euro ($820 billion) in bonds
through 2020, with Greek debt and non-financial commercial paper
of sufficient credit quality eligible under the programme for
the first time. "It's given us a shot in the arm," said Michael McCarthy,
chief market strategist at brokerage CMC Markets in Sydney, but
he added he expects it to be short-lived.
"This is about the impact on demand and the disruption of
global supply chain...(bond buying) is not speaking directly to
the key problem for markets. I doubt very much this is a turning
point," he said.
Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 .SPX fell 5% and is
down nearly 30% over a month. Selling extended across almost all
asset classes as investors liquidated portfolios. .N
Bonds have suffered their sharpest two-day selloff in nearly
20 years. Gold is down 3% for the week and oil fell to an
18-year low as quarantine lockdowns spread across the globe.
In currency markets, the dollar is king and jumped to a
three-year high overnight amid a rush for the world's reserve
currency in times of crisis.
On Wednesday, the virus outbreak worsened. Italy reported
the largest single-day death toll from coronavirus since the
outbreak began in China in late 2019. It has killed more than 8,700 people globally, infected more
than 212,000 and prompted emergency lockdowns on a scale not
seen in living memory.
"It is serious. Take it seriously," German Chancellor Angela
Merkel told her nation in a televised speech amid the shutdown
of almost everything except bakeries, banks, pharmacies and
grocers. The ECB's move follows emergency interest rate cuts around
the globe, enormous fiscal support packages and six central
banks promising discount dollars to banks to alleviate a squeeze
in greenback funding.
But so far none of it has been able to put a floor under
dire sentiment, and some $15 trillion in shareholder value has
been wiped out in little more than a month of heavy selling.
"I'd say the market is uninvestable at this point," said
Daniel Cuthbertson, managing director at Value Point Asset
Management in Sydney. "Until we get a containment of global
contractions, the market is just going to be directionless."
On Thursday the Reserve Bank of Australia pumped a record
$7.4 billion into the banking system and is due to make an
out-of-cycle policy announcement at 0330 GMT. Investors are also looking to a March German sentiment
survey due at 0900 GMT and U.S. joblessness figures due at 1230
GMT for any early signals on how the virus headwinds are hitting
two of the world's economic powerhouses.
Oil steadied after an overnight rout, with Brent crude
LCOc1 settling at $24.88. O/R
($1 = 0.9149 euros)
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Asia stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Asia-Pacific valuations https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA
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(Editing by Sam Holmes)