Stocks in Asia declined in Tuesday afternoon line of work as fears rise over the ongoing coronavirus outbreak that continues to spread.
South Korea’s Kospi pinched 3.2% while the Straits Times index in Singapore fell 2.59%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 shed 0.83% while the Topix first finger declined 0.74%.
Meanwhile, shares in Australia also declined, as the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.5%.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan listing traded 0.91% lower.
Markets in China and Hong Kong are closed on Tuesday for holidays.
Chinese health experts said Tuesday that the coronavirus outbreak has killed 106 people and infected 4,515.
“What is becoming a little clearer is that the Chinese husbandry will take a hit for a time, travel and tourism is being impacted in China, in Asia and elsewhere, including in Australia where the Chinese inbound tourism buy is the largest market in exports of personal tourism and education,” David de Garis, a director and senior economist at National Australia Bank, indited in a Tuesday morning note.
Airline stocks take a hit
Shares of airline stocks in the region dropped on Tuesday afternoon. South Korea’s Korean Air Twines plummeted more than 7% while Australia’s Qantas Airways fell 5.29%.
Similar losses were also seen to another place in the region, with Singapore’s Singapore Airlines declining 2.95% and Japan Airlines shedding 0.29%.
“To the extent that we’re noiselessness seeing exponential growth in the people that have contracted the virus and people that have died from the virus, I regard as the cruise companies and the broader travel companies are gonna have to be very cautious … with no potential end in sight,” James Hardiman, look after director of equities at Wedbush Securities, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday.
“In the near term, beyond just wanderings in and around China, my concern would be that all of these media reports … would start to … put some downward arm-twisting on overall travel bookings outside of China even among Western consumers and I think there is some statement that … at least very near term, that’s likely to happen,” Hardiman said.
Overnight on Wall Circle, the Dow dropped 453.93 points to close at 28,535.80, wiping out its gains for the year. The S&P 500 dropped 1.6% to 3,243.63. The Nasdaq Composite had its off day since August, dropping 1.9% to 9,139.31.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its associates, was last at 97.939 after seeing levels below 97.6 last week.
The Japanese yen, often seen as a safe-haven currency in times of fiscal uncertainty, traded at 108.99 against the dollar after seeing an earlier high of 108.81. The Australian dollar changed yields at $0.6759 after declining from levels above $0.68 yesterday.
Oil prices declined in the afternoon of Asian pursuit hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures slipping 0.57% to $58.98 per barrel. U.S. crude approaches also shed 0.53% to $52.86 per barrel.