Asian
stocks fell to a seven-week low on Thursday, with fears related to the Corona
virus and concerns about the acceleration of the spread of the infection along
with its impact on the world’s second biggest economy.
Hang
Seng Index decreased by 2.65 percent to 26,441.72, while the Shanghai Composite
Index was closed today due to the lunar New Year holiday.
Australia
S&P/ASX 200 finished 0.33 percent down at 7,008.43 and South Korea’s Kospi
index descended by 1.71 percent to 2,148.
In
Japan, Nikkei 225 index slumped 1.72 percent to 22,977.75 points.
This
decline in Asian shares was due to the lingering fears surrounding the deadly
epidemic Coronavirus, which, so far, has killed 170 people and infected more
than 7,711 in China.
The
virus spread throughout China and then spread to at least 16 countries
worldwide, including Thailand, France, the United States and Australia.
To
date, there is no specific treatment or vaccine against the disease. However, a
number of people have recovered after treatment.
WHO's
Emergency Director Michael Ryan said the death rate from MERS-CoV was around 2
percent, while the Sars death rate was about 10 percent.
WHO
is scheduled to meet today to discuss whether the virus is a global health
emergency.
In
the same vein, the offshore Chinese yuan fell 0.46 to
hit a one-month low at 7.0038 per dollar, while it is currently hovering around
6.9980 per dollar.
Meanwhile,
the dollar index, which measures the performance of six major currencies
against the US dollar, rose by 0.09 percent at 97.90 after touching a peak of
98.00 yesterday after the Fed’s decision to hold interest rates.
Later in the day, the
U.S. advanced GDP may remain unrevised at 2.1 percent growth in the fourth
quarter on annual basis.