SLUMP. Pedestrians walk past a quotation board displaying the share price closing numbers of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on March 6, 2020. Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP
On the other side of the Atlantic, Wall Street fell 2.9% as no end appeared to be in sight to the spreading COVID-19 disease. While governments and central banks have unleashed or prepared to roll out stimulus measures, the rapid spread of the disease and rising death toll are putting a strain on economies and stoking concerns of a worldwide recession.
"With the economic impact of coronavirus large and rising, policymakers in advanced economies are being forced to react," said economist Adam Slater at research group Oxford Economics. With dealers flocking to safety and yields on US Treasuries at record lows, gold has rocketed more than 5% this week to sit at more than seven-year highs.