Among the worst-hit sectors on global trading floors are firms linked to travel and tourism, as big-spending Chinese tourists stay at home with Beijing clamping down on people's movement.
Hong
Kong stocks plunged Wednesday as investors in the city returned from
their Lunar New Year break to a global panic over the deadly
coronavirus,
though most other Asian markets were lifted by bargain-buying after
recent losses.
Healthy
US data reinforced hopes for the global economic outlook and
supported a rally across US and European markets, which provided a
strong lead for Asia, while a record earnings report from Apple also
helped the mood.
Still,
the focus remains on developments in the virus outbreak -- which has
now killed at least 132 people and infected more people in China than
SARS did 17 years ago -- and concerns about the impact on the world
economy.
Among
the worst-hit sectors on global trading floors are firms linked to
travel and tourism, as big-spending Chinese tourists stay at home
with Beijing clamping down on people's movement.
The
outbreak carries echoes of the SARS crisis, which paralysed regional
travel and battered local economies. Chinese tourist numbers then
fell by around a third.
The
latest outbreak is expected to deal a massive blow to China's
already-fragile economy, coming during the Lunar
New Year holidays when millions criss-cross the country and spend
billions of dollars. It also comes just as data indicated some sort
of stability in the economy after a long-running slowdown.
"We
expected to see strong economic momentum in China before, but now the
pace of growth may slow," Banny Lam, at CEB International
Investment, said.
"Markets
will remain very volatile due to the uncertainty, and the swings
won't subside until we have clear evidence that the virus is fading.
That may happen when the weather gets warmer in the summer."
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