China’s almost $600 billion stimulus plan announced on Sunday caused global markets to rally, but the excitement wasn’t sustained everywhere.
Asian equities and commodities were bid up sharply on Monday, according to Forbes. The Nikkei jumped 5.8 percent. Hong Kong shares were up 3.5 percent.
Beijing’s announcement also caused the price of crude oil to rise by more than $4 a barrel, reports the BBC.
Brazil stocks were also up, according to BusinessWeek.
The U.S. dollar was little changed against the Euro after the news of the stimulus package was announced, reports Reuters:
Initial optimism quickly faded, however, as U.S. stocks surrendered early gains on concerns that China’s plan may not be enough to help avert a global recession, helping the safe-haven yen regain some strength versus the greenback.
China launched an economic stimulus package on Sunday worth nearly $600 billion in what could mark the start of a round of big spending or interest rate cuts to stave off a recession in many countries.
“The initial reaction to the announcement in China was very positive and gave some support to investors seeking to take more risk,” said Matthew Strauss, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto. “But ultimately, it may take some time for the package to be fully absorbed by the Chinese economy, which in turn is expected to keep slowing at least until the beginning of 2009.”
