Asian markets tumble as fears over virus outbreak spread

Asian markets tumble as fears over virus outbreak spread

SeattlePI.com

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Shares tumbled in Asia on Thursday as concern over the impact of the virus outbreak in China deepened.

Taiwan's benchmark dived 5.8% as its market reopened after the Lunar New Year. Japan's Nikkei 225 index sank 1.7% to 22,977.75, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index skidded 2.2% to 26,555.96. In Australia, the S&P ASX/200 declined 0.4% to 7,008.40. South Korea's Kospi lost 1.9% to 2,144.05.

Shares also retreated in India and Southeast Asia. Mainland Chinese markets remained closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

“With equity markets pumped to juicy levels by the relentless flow of cheap central bank money around the world, unexpected Wuhan-like events leave them acutely vulnerable to potentially aggressive corrections," Jeffrey Halley of Oanda said in a commentary.

The death toll from the virus rose to 170, with 7,711 people confirmed infected, as foreign evacuees from the worst-hit region in central China began returning home under close observation. World health officials expressed “great concern” that the disease is starting to spread between people outside of China.

In other news, South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. said its operating profit for the last quarter fell 33.7% from a year earlier. But it predicted earnings will improve in 2020, driven by a gradually stabilizing computer chip market and increasing 5G smartphone sales.

Samsung, the world’s biggest producer of smartphones and semiconductors, has suffered a sharp drop in profit over the past year with an industry-wide glut forcing chip-makers to slash prices to clear out inventory.

Overnight, stocks lost momentum on Wall Street as investors tuned in to a news conference by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

The wobbly finish left the benchmark S&P 500 with a 0.1% loss, to 3,273.40....

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