Asian stocks rise highest as the US announces $2 trillion stimulus package

• World stocks rise with US economic stimulus bill announcement
• Earlier today, Dow surged by 11%, the best daily gain since 1933
• Japan and South Korea, the biggest winners of the day

Stocks markets around the globe took a sigh of relief after the United States announced a massive economic stimulus bill to alleviate the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan led gains among major markets in the region, adding 8.04 percent to close at 19,546.63. The Topix index jumped 6.87pc to end its trading day at 1,424.62.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 5.89pc to close at 1,704.76. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up about 3.4pc, as of its final hour of trading.

Mainland Chinese stocks advanced on the day, with the Shanghai composite up 2.17pc to about 2,781,59 while the Shenzhen composite rose 2.919% to approximately 1,714.86.

Meanwhile, in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 increased 5.54pc to close at 4,998.10 as the sectors mostly rose.

Markets in Europe also responded to the stimulus announcement positively, after Germany’s DAX jumped up 4pc to 10,085.75. The CAC 40 in Paris picked up steam to 4.6pc to 4,436.54.

The package had been expected to include a $500 billion fund to help hard-hit industries and a comparable amount for direct payments of up to $3,000 to millions of U.S. families, as well as $350 billion for small-business loans, $250 billion for expanded unemployment aid and $75 billion for hospitals.

Stock-markets, today.

Japan: +8.1%

South Korea: +5.8%

India: +5.5%

Australia: +5.5%

Spain: +3.3%

Saudi: +3.2%

Russia: +3.2%

Italy: +2.9%

Netherlands: +2.3%

China: +2.1%

Germany: +2.1%

Switzerland: +1.7%

UK: +1.2%