· Asian share markets fell on Friday and oil price gains stalled, as the growing death toll and economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak snuffed out a late-week rally.
The death toll in mainland China from the new virus has more than doubled in just under a week.
It rose to 636 on Friday, with the number of infections at 31,161. And in the early hours of the morning one of the first Chinese doctors to raise the alarm about the virus died from it at a hospital in Wuhan, the outbreak’s epicenter. He was 34.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.9%. Japan's Nikkei .N225 edged lower, while Korea's Kospi .KS11, Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI and the Shanghai Composite .SSEC fell by between 0.5% and 1.2%.
· Japanese shares ended lower on Friday as investors booked profit after the major indexes posted their biggest one-day gain in more than a year in the previous session following China’s decision to halve tariffs on some U.S. imports.
The benchmark Nikkei average ended down 0.2% at 23,827.98.
The index closed 2.4% firmer on Thursday, its most in 13 months after China’s decision provided some relief to global financial markets jolted by a fast-spreading coronavirus.
It posted a weekly gain of 2.7%, marking its best week in eight.
Limiting losses in the index were shares of SoftBank Group , which surged 7.1% after media reports that Elliott Management has amassed a nearly $3 billion stake in the Japanese conglomerate and is pushing for changes in its governance and transparency.
The broader Topix slipped 0.2% to 1,733.32, following a 2.1% jump in the previous session, on profit-taking ahead of the weekend.
· Chinese stocks eked out gains on Friday, although they suffered their worst weekly loss in nine months on concerns about an economic impact due to the rapidly-spreading coronavirus in China, which has killed over630 people.
The Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.3% at 2,875.96. For the week, it shed 3.4% after markets witnessed heavy selling on Monday when they reopened after the Lunar New Year break.
· European markets opened mostly lower Friday morning, as investors monitor the latest coronavirus developments and breaking news on the corporate front.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged 0.1% below the flatline in early trade, with autos falling 0.8% to lead losses while telecoms added 0.3%.
Investors remain attentive to the economic developments of the coronavirus outbreak. S&P Global Ratings said in a report Friday that it lowered its growth forecasts for China for 2020 to 5% from 5.7% prior to the outbreak.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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