Japan's benchmark Nikkei dived 3.1% to 20,663.32. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 2.1% to 6,259.20. South Korea's Kospi dropped 2.3% to 2,037.08. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 2.1% to 26,213.51, while the Shanghai Composite slumped 0.9% to 3,049.95. Shares also dropped in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
"One succumbs to the sheer fear of community spread, prospects of deep economic impact from a sharp drop off in demand for travel and seizures in supply-chains," Varathan said in a commentary. These vicious swings are likely to continue, as long as the number of new infections continues to accelerate, many analysts and professional investors say. Thursday was the fourth straight day where the S&P 500 moved at least 2%, the longest such stretch since the summer of 2011.
"It's been a roller-coaster market in recent days for equity investors, and today we appear to be on the downward leg for that ride," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. "What you need is time, and unfortunately that is still going to result in volatility." In the U.S., the death toll climbed to 12 due to the virus. California declared a statewide emergency, Facebook is temporarily closing a Seattle office after a worker was diagnosed with the virus and an industry group said the outbreak could cost airlines as much as $113 billion in lost revenue.
"The Western world is now following some of China's playbook, closing schools and declaring a state of emergency for example, but there is a sense that this is too little, too late," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
We talk about this like people dying matter less than the markets.
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