By Joanne Chiu 

U.S. stock-index futures edged up and some equity markets in the Asia-Pacific region advanced, while oil prices crept higher after registering fresh multiyear lows.

Still, as the last day of March began, global stocks were poised to close out their worst quarter since the depths of the global financial crisis, with the coronavirus pandemic chilling economic activity and rattling investor confidence.

The MSCI All Country World Index had fallen more than 19.9% in the year to Monday, FactSet data showed. That put it on track for its biggest quarterly decline since late 2008. The benchmark covers stocks in 49 developed and emerging markets, although U.S. stocks account for more than 56% of its performance.

The index has shed 12.6% so far this month, which if sustained would be the largest monthly drop since October 2008.

S&P 500 futures inched up 0.6% in early Tuesday trading in Hong Kong, suggesting U.S. markets could be relatively steady when they open later on Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, a security that is seen as a haven, rose to 0.714%, according to Tradeweb, from 0.667% on Monday. Yields move in the opposite direction of prices.

Tai Hui, chief market strategist for Asia Pacific at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, said there was some bargain-hunting, as bond markets grew less dislocated, some early signs emerged in Europe of virus infections peaking, and policy makers made concerted efforts to support economies.

"I think the market is taking more of a glass-half-full attitude," Mr. Hui said.

Benchmark indexes in Australia and New Zealand rose more than 2%. Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.7%, while South Korea's Kospi Composite gained nearly 2%.

In China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.5%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced around 1.5%.

Gauges of business activity showed factories, service industries and construction rebounded in China in March. The official manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 52.0 in March, up from a record low of 35.7 in February, and slightly ahead of consensus forecasts. The 50 mark separates expansion from contraction.

However, China's statistics bureau said the reading only reflects work resumption from February and it doesn't mean economic activity has returned to normal. The equivalent measure for nonmanufacturing industries rose to 52.3.

"The challenge has shifted from supply chains and domestic demand to external demand as the U.S. and Europe are going through probably their deepest contraction in history in the next few months," said Mr. Hui. "That is going to have a knock-on effect on Chinese exports."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both rose more than 3% on Monday, with news on progress of medical measures to combat the novel coronavirus helping lift some stocks. Abbott Laboratories said U.S. authorities had approved an emergency-use coronavirus test, while Johnson & Johnson said it had made progress on a vaccine to prevent Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.

West Texas Intermediate, the main U.S. crude gauge, rebounded more than 6% at $21.38 a barrel, after it settled at an 18-year low Monday. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 2.6% to $27.11 a barrel.

The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against 16 other currencies, was little changed at 93.85. It has declined about 2.6% in the last five days as a surge in demand for dollars has abated.

Write to Joanne Chiu at joanne.chiu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 31, 2020 00:05 ET (04:05 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.