Asian shares turn mixed, oil rebounds in choppy trade

Sydney - * Oil rebounds in Asia, after steep slide* U.S. dollar holds steady, Aussie hit by rating change

Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday after two sessions of sharp gains as investors tempered their optimism about the coronavirus while death tolls were still mounting across the globe.
While the number of COVID-19 hospitalisations seemed to be levelling off in New York state, deaths across the United States jumped by a record of more than 1,800.
Mainland China's new coronavirus cases also doubled in 24 hours due to infected travellers returning from overseas.
Adding to the uncertainty were wild swings in the oil market, where prices rebounded in Asia after sliding on Tuesday, leaving traders feeling dizzy.
U.S. crude futures jumped 6.4 per cent to $25.18 a barrel, having shed 9.4 per cent the session before, while Brent crude added $1.02 to $32.89.
The erratic action was mirrored in equities with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan first falling almost 1per cent before clawing back to be little changed.
Japan's Nikkei stood out with a rise of 2.3 per cent as the confirmation of a state of emergency led some to buy back hard-hit transport and retail stocks. Shanghai blue chips lost 0.3per cent.
E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 recovered from an early drop to rise 1per cent, while EUROSTOXX 50 futures eased 0.3per cent and FTSE futures 0.5per cent.
"There is reason to be cautious as this looked to be a relief rally ahead of next week's start of Q1 earning season and before data reveals the depth of the virus impact," said analysts at JPMorgan in a note.
"Data shows the recent move higher has been accompanied by short covering and de-risking rather than active risk taking on the long side."
The S&P 500 had ended Tuesday down 0.16 per cent, having been up as much as 3.5 per cent at one stage. The Nasdaq dropped 0.33per cent and the Dow 0.12 per cent.
After U.S. stock markets closed, President Donald Trump said the United States may be getting to the top of the coronavirus curve.
The Trump administration asked Congress for an additional $250 billion in emergency economic aid for small U.S. businesses reeling from the pandemic.
"While the virus' 'curve is flattening', the economic effects of the corona crisis will linger for years in our view," Commonwealth Bank of Australia economist Joseph Capurso said in a note.
"Economies will take time to re-open, some businesses will not re-open, and unemployment will take years to return to levels reported at the end of 2019."
Ratings agency S&P Global on Wednesday warned the cost of combating the virus would weigh heavily on Australia's finances and changed the outlook for the country's rating to negative.
That knocked the Aussie dollar down 0.5per cent to $0.6137 and gave its U.S. peer a lift. The U.S. dollar added 0.2per cent on the yen to 108.93, while the euro dipped 0.2per cent to $1.0865.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar edged up 0.2per cent to 100.170.
Gold prices were stuck at $1,648, after touching a 3-1/2-week high on Tuesday at $1,671.