Stocks Decline While the Coronavirus Outbreak Intensifies

Stocks Decline While the Coronavirus Outbreak Intensifies

Stocks continue their descent as the fear of China’s virus grows. Investors are concerned that the futures will fall further. So, they are trying to sell the shares and move their money on safe-heaven stocks (such as the Japanese yen, etc.).

Coronavirus, which spread from the live animal market of China’s 11 million city Wuhan, has already killed 80 people, and 2,700 are infected. The World Health Organization noted that the outbreak has become “an emergency in China.”

But so far, it’s not a grave danger for the rest of the world. Nevertheless, the virus is spreading more easily and extensively, as authorities caution.

The Lunar New Year made things more complicated, as people began traveling for celebrations. China’s government issued that it will extend the week-long holiday with three days. Meanwhile, Hong Kong announced that it wouldn’t receive people who have traveled to the Hubei province in the past 14 days.

As the investors continue to sell the shares, all the futures are plunging low. Takeo Kamai, the Head of Executions Services at CLSA in Tokyo, stated, that all people are seeing are headlines about the coronavirus. This is giving investors a reason to sell the markets.  

Three Major Wall Street Indexes Closed Very Low 

The S&P 500 lost 0.9 %, suffering its biggest one-day percentage drop in over three months. After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention verified a second case of the virus on the U.S. shores. The Nasdaq Composite also plummeted by 0.9 %. At the same time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 0.6%.

Oil prices also lowered. Mihir Kapadia, Chief Executive at Sun Global Investments, said that the investors would react quickly to any sign of negativity, and this is no exception. Until the situation regulates and the virus outbreak diminishes, the prices will fluctuate.