Asian stock markets swoon as China battles coronavirus
Outbreak coincides with travel of hundreds of millions of Chinese for Lunar New Year
BANGKOK — Asian stock markets slid Thursday as health authorities rushed to contain a deadly virus outbreak in China and keep it from spreading globally.
China and other nations have ramped up screenings for fever on aircraft and at airports. The central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus is concentrated, closed down its train station and airport Thursday to prevent people from entering or leaving.
CHINESE CITY AT CENTER OF VIRUS OUTBREAK A MAJOR CROSSROADS
Adding to concerns, the outbreak coincides with the annual travel of hundreds of millions of Chinese for the Lunar New Year festival, which begins Friday.
Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea on Thursday. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
The coronavirus has been confirmed in five countries, including China, the U.S., Thailand, Japan and South Korea. So far, China has confirmed more than 500 people have fallen sick and 17 have died from the illness, which can cause pneumonia and other severe respiratory symptoms.
A World Health Organization committee was scheduled to meet for a second day Thursday as it decides whether to declare China's virus outbreak a global health emergency.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index skidded 1% to 23,795.44, while the Kospi in South Korea sank 0.9% to 2,246.13. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 1.5% to 27,909.12, while the Shanghai Composite index declined 2.8% to 2,976.53. Australia's S&P ASX/200 shed 0.6% to 7,088.00. Shares rose in India and Jakarta but fell in Taiwan and Singapore.
U.S. cities San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City are major hubs for travel from Asia.
"As far as the market is concerned, the current reaction remains mild and perhaps rightly so, given the difficulty to estimate the impact of an evolving syndrome," Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary. By postponing a decision on whether the virus is a global health emergency, the WHO helped assuage some fears the crisis is escalating, she said.
In other news, Japan reported Thursday that its trade balance was negative in 2019 for a second straight year, as China-U.S. trade tensions and friction with neighboring South Korea bit into exports.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE