More positive signs of an economic bounceback in China also boosted sentiment on trading floors after a turbulent four days

The shockwave from the Swiss lender’s struggles was felt across the region’s trading floors with investors turning to bonds, gold and dollars

A retail sales recovery in China also boosted sentiment as investors recovered their composure after the Silicon Valley Bank collapse

Tokyo banking shares plummeted their most since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finance subindex dropped too

Investors were hit with mixed messages on Monday as a banking crisis threatened to spread while China’s economy showed signs of bouncing back

The Nikkei and Hang Seng were on the back foot on Friday with traders worried a too hawkish Fed is bringing stress to the US banking sector

A hawkish US Fed chairman’s downbeat predictions on inflation dampened the mood on trading floors though the Nikkei rallied on stimulus hopes

China’s imports and exports slowed in the first two months of this year, denting hopes of a recovery in the world’s manufacturing hub

Japan’s Nikkei was boosted by calming noises coming from the US Fed on rate hikes while Beijing’s safe growth target disappointed investors

Investor mood shifted from the downbeat to the positive on Friday on signals the US Fed was ready to rein back its aggressive interest rates programme

Many investors were reluctant to take risks on Thursday as the likelihood of an extended inflation fight in the US dampened the mood on trading floors

The region's stock indexes sparked back into life on Wednesday posting their best returns in seven weeks after data showed China's manufacturing sector rallied strongly in February