Roundup: Asia-Pacific stocks tumble as COVID-19 declared as pandemic, U.S. imposes travel ban

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, March 12, 2020
Adjust font size:

HONG KONG, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Asia-Pacific stock markets fell sharply Thursday after U.S. shares tumbled overnight, as the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic and U.S. President Donald Trump announcing a new travel ban on mainland Europe continued to rattle investors.

HONG KONG

Hong Kong stocks closed down 922.54 points, or 3.66 percent, to 24,309.07 points on Thursday, the lowest level since April 2017.

Aviation sector was among the hardest hit as the United States would suspend travel from mainland Europe for the next 30 days starting from Friday local time. Hong Kong's flag airline Cathay Pacific fell by over 4 percent.

Other heavyweights also saw a decline in stock prices, as Tencent slumped by 3.91 percent and banking giant HSBC lost over 4 percent.

JAPAN

In Japan, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average tumbled 856.43 points, or 4.41 percent, from Wednesday to close the day at 18,559.63, marking its lowest closing level since April 20, 2017.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, plummeted 57.24 points, or 4.13 percent, to close at 1,327.88.

The announcement of the U.S. travel ban sent the Nikkei plummeting more than 1,000 points at one point and the safe-haven yen surging against the U.S. dollar.

Expectations, thus, have been raised for Japan's central bank to unleash additional easing measures, in line with other central banks, market analysts said, helping to take the edge of growing market jitters.

SOUTH KOREA

South Korean stocks tumbled almost 4 percent amid mounting fear over the COVID-19 outbreak, which spread fast across Europe recently.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dived 73.94 points, or 3.87 percent, to settle at 1,834.33. Trading volume stood at 837.1 million shares worth 11.1 trillion won (9.2 billion U.S. dollars).

The KOSPI plunged over 5 percent in the trading, leading the bourse operator to activate a so-called sidecar for the first time in more than eight years.

The sidecar is imposed to halt program trading for five minutes when stock futures fluctuate more than 5 percent for at least one minute. The last time it was activated was in October 2011.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics slipped more than 2 percent, and memory chip giant SK Hynix diminished over 3 percent. Leading chemical firm LG Chem dropped more than 6 percent, while the most-used search engine Naver and top automaker Hyundai Motor closed lower.

AUSTRALIA

The Australian share market was shocked again by the latest development of the COVID-19 with a sharp plunge of 7.4 percent on Thursday.

The country's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 421.3 points or 7.36 percent at 5304.6 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 418.40 points or 7.23 percent at 5370.90.

The sharp plunge represented the worst one-day percentage decline since the 2008 financial crisis, surpassing the 7.33 percent selloff on Monday.

Westpac Bank Head of Financial Market Strategy Robert Rennie told Xinhua that in particular the announcement of travel limitations between Europe and the United States seemed to undermine market confidence.

According to Rennie, while some markets such as crude oil and gasoline took a direct hit from the bans, contributing to the volatility of equity markets was a lack of global cooperation and coordinated response to the virus.

Earlier in the day Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a 17.6-billion-Australian-dollar (11.35 billion U.S. dollars) stimulus package to help assist businesses and individuals most impacted by COVID-19.

In the past three weeks, the Australian share market has fallen more than 20 percent since hitting a record high of 7,197 points -- something economists refer to as a "bear market," which is also a common indicator of recession.

SINGAPORE

Singapore shares closed 3.77 percent lower, as the panic over the spreading of coronavirus in the United States and Europe has taken a toll upon the market confidence.

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index sank 105.08 points to 2,678.64 points. Trading volume was 1.96 billion shares worth 2.63 billion Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 449 to 99.

Among top gainers, Singapore Press Holdings rose 2.14 percent to 1.91 Singapore dollars, while DBS Group Holdings became one of the top losers by falling 3.86 percent to 20.20 Singapore dollars.

Maybank-Kim Eng Retail Research said technically, the Straits Times Index remains in bear territory with downside risk at June 2016 low of 2,730 points, while significant resistance lies at the 2,960 points breakdown gap.

INDIA

The Indian stock market also crashed on Thursday following incessant selling by investors on the United States imposing travel bans as well as India suspending visas amid rising number of COVID-19 cases.

The total market capitalization of companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) hit an over 32-month low on Thursday as the benchmark indices crashed over 8 percent.

The benchmark S&P, BSE Sensex closed at 32,778.14, 2,919.26 points or 8.18 percent down compared to its previous close at 35,697.40.

NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand stock market's indicator, the S&P/NZX 50 index, dropped sharply by 5.33 percent to 10,333 on Thursday.

The drop was led by brewer Moa Group Limited, which went down by 19.57 percent to 0.185 NZ dollars (0.116 U.S. dollars), and Geo Ltd, down 16 percent, while Comvita Limited jumped by 3.63 percent to 2 NZ dollars.

Air New Zealand was down 2.7 percent at 1.76 NZ dollars, and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which exports respiratory devices, was down 4.4 percent at 24.29 NZ dollars.

Auckland Airport shares were put on a trading halt until further notice.

MALAYSIA

In Malaysia, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) was at 1,419.43 down 24.40 points or 1.69 percent, and the Emas was at 9,858.07 down 222.31 points or 2.21 percent.

There were 167 gainers,923 losers and 221 counters traded unchanged.

INDONESIA

Indonesia, where the stock exchange just tightened its rules, also suspended trading as the Jakarta Composite Index fell 5 percent.

The IDX Composite, an index of all stocks listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in Jakarta, closed at 4,895.75 points, down by 258.36 points, or 5.01 percent against that in the previous trading day.

Approximately 5.07 billion shares worth more than 5.97 trillion Indonesian rupiahs (about 411.84 million U.S. dollars) changed hands at the stock market.

Prices of 39 stocks went up, 397 stocks dropped, and 248 stocks remained unchanged. Enditem

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
ChinaNews App Download
Print E-mail Bookmark and Share

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)

No comments.

Add your comments...

  • User Name Required
  • Your Comment
  • Enter the words you see:   
    Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.
Send your storiesGet more from China.org.cnMobileRSSNewsletter