Asia petchem shares, oil prices rebound on US Fed stimulus plan

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Asian petrochemical shares and crude oil prices rebounded sharply on Tuesday after the US Federal Reserve announced unprecedented measures to support the economy.

Gains were capped by economic growth concerns as the number of countries implementing restrictions on movement continued to grow, including the UK, India and Australia.

At 03:10 GMT, shares of Japan’s Mitsubishi Chemical was 4.33% higher while Taiwanese producer Formosa Petrochemical Corp was up 8.37%.

In Hong Kong, Chinese state-owned major Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical was up by 2.41% while PetroChina rose by 4.78%.

Regional bourses opened in the green on Tuesday after the US Federal Reserve offered to purchase unlimited amounts of assets to prevent the financial market from becoming a compounding factor to worsen the coronavirus impact to the real economy and US households.

US equity markets closed lower overnight despite the announcement  by the Fed after the US Senate with a 49-46 vote failed for the second time on 23 March advance a $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down by 3.04% while the S&P 500 index ended 2.93% lower.

Company/Stock Exchange	% Change
Nikkei 225 (Japan)	6.74%
Asahi Kasei Corporation	2.22%
JXTG Holdings, Inc.	5.92%
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation	4.33%
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.	-0.75%
Hang Seng Index (Hong Kong)	4.00%
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited	2.41%
PetroChina Company Limited	4.78%
KOSPI Composite Index (South Korea)	6.65%
OCI Company Ltd	7.01%
SK Innovation Co., Ltd.	11.44%
LG Chem, Ltd.	8.96%
Lotte Chemical Corporation	6.18%
Hanwha Corporation	4.56%
TSEC weighted index (Taiwan)	5.83%
Formosa Petrochemical Corporation	8.37%
Nan Ya Plastics Corporation	7.30%
Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation	6.13%
STI Index (Singapore)	3.42%
Wilmar International Limited	1.38%
Olam International Limited	4.72%
FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (Malaysia)	2.84%
SSE Composite Index (Shanghai, China)	1.84%
Jakarta Composite Index (Indonesia)	2.56%
PT. Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk	-3.80%

International crude benchmark Brent and US WTI crude oil prices on Tuesday extended gains seen in the previous session following the Fed’s announcement.

$/bbl (03:22 GMT 24 March)	Last Price	% Change	Net Change	Close	Session High	Session Low
Brent	27.9	3.22%	0.87	27.03	28.4	27.15
US WTI	24.32	4.11%	0.96	23.36	24.79	23.7

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement on Monday following a conference call of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers that nearly 80 countries have asked IMF for emergency finance.

The IMF expects a global recession this year that will be at least as severe as the downturn during the 2008/2009 global financial crisis. This is expected to be followed by a recovery in 2021.

IMF revealed that investors have already removed $83bn from emerging markets since the coronavirus crisis began, the largest capital outflow ever recorded.

Visit the ICIS Coronavirus topic page for analysis of the impact on chemical markets and links to latest news.