Asian stocks and currencies tumbled further on thursday, as the rising death toll from a virus spreading from china led airlines to cut flights and stores to close, increasing pressure on the world’s second-largest economy as fears of a pandemic grow. european stocks are also set to fall. EuroSTOXX 50 futures and DAX futures are down 0.8 per cent. FTSE futures point to a negative open in London. US stock futures, down 0.6 per cent, suggest a negative open on Wall Street.
The number of confirmed deaths from the virus in china has climbed to 170 with 7,711 people infected, and more cases are being reported around the world. Chinese factories have extended holidays, global airlines cut flights and Sweden’s Ikea said it would shut all of its stores in china to help contain the outbreak. Economists have begun slashing the country’s growth outlook.
The news flow in the past couple of hours has been quite bleak, said prashant Newnaha a Singapore-based strategist at TD Securities. So the risk off tone continues.
