Asian share markets were trying to stabilise on Tuesday after a wave of early selling petered out and Wall Street futures managed a solid bounce, allowing investors to take a break from coronavirus fears.

Some dealers cited a Wall Street Journal report on a possible vaccine as helping sentiment, though human tests of the drug might not start until the end of April.

Whatever the cause, E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 bounced 1% to pare some of the steep 3.35% loss the cash index suffered overnight.

South Korea’s hard-hit market edged up 0.8% and helped MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fight back to flat.

Japan’s Nikkei was still down 2.8%, but just catching up to the global sell-off having been shut on Monday. Shanghai blue chips eased 0.7% but also off early lows.

Source: Reuters