What measures are Asian policymakers taking as market rout deepens?

POLICYMAKERS across Asia are preparing measures to support financial markets as a rout deepened following sweeping tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump that stoked widespread recession worries.

Here are some of the announcements so far:

CHINA

China's sovereign fund Central Huijin Investment said it was increasing holdings in China stocks, and it has bought China-listed shares via exchange-traded funds and will continue to increase holdings to "safeguard the smooth operation of the capital market."

Several Chinese state holding companies have followed suit and vowed on Tuesday to increase share investment, while a slew of listed companies announced share buy-backs to support prices.

After a brutal market rout on Monday, the markets stabilized a bit on Tuesday, aided by Beijing's support.

INDONESIA

Indonesia's central bank has and will continue to aggressively intervene in the markets to support the rupiah IDR= after the currency slumped to a record low, a Bank Indonesia official told Reuters on Tuesday.

Bank Indonesia will continue to monitor markets and will stabilise the rupiah to maintain investor confidence, the official said.

The country's stock market operator unveiled a set of measures ahead of the market open to stem the expected slide in the bourse. It said a fall of 8% would trigger a 30-minute suspension in trading, while a fall of more than 20% in the main index would see trading suspended for the rest of the day.

The index dropped 9% at the open.

TAIWAN

Taiwan's top financial regulator said it would impose temporary curbs this week on short-selling of shares to help deal with potential market turmoil from the tariffs.

The Taiwan Stock Exchange chairman said the bourse would coordinate with the financial regulator to take further stabilisation steps if needed to handle any volatility.

SOUTH KOREA

South Korea's financial regulator asked firms and state institutions to be prepared to provide liquidity support for exporting companies and their contractors impacted by tariffs, and said it would prepare a market stabilising programme worth 100 trillion won ($68.08 billion).

The Bank of Korea said it stood ready to deploy market stabilising measures.

THAILAND

Thailand's stock exchange said on Monday it would impose measures including lowering the ceiling and floor limit on stock trading to 15% from 30%, and a ban on short-selling during April 8-11 to mitigate potential volatility.

The benchmark index .SETI slumped nearly 5% on Tuesday, hitting its lowest level since March 2020.