Mainland Chinese Stocks and Virus Outbreak

The problems connected with coronavirus had a negative impact on the mainland Chinese stocks as well as other Asian markets. The Shanghai Composite dropped 2.75% during the day to around 2,976.53.

Meanwhile, the Shenzhen component fell 3.52% to close at 10,681.90. The Shenzhen composite declined 3.451% to end its trading day at approximately 1,756.82.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dropped 1.89% as of its final hour of trading.

Unfortunately, the Nikkei 225 and Topix fell on Thursday. The Nikkei 225 in Japan declined 0.98% to close at 23,795.44. At the same time, the Topix index fell 0.78% and finished its trading day at 1,730.50.

On Thursday, Japanese trade data became available to the public. According to the trade data exports fell in December. In the last month of 2019, Japanese exports declined by 6.3% in comparison with the same period in 2018. Based on the data provided by the Ministry of Finance.

South Korea’s Kospi index also fell on January 23 by 0.93% to close at 2,246.13.

Stocks and Health issues

The outbreak of a pneumonia-causing virus is a severe challenge for Chinese officials. This news influenced the investor sentiment as the mysterious coronavirus infected hundreds of people in China.

Unfortunately, the virus already spread outside the Wuhan. In this situation, it is not surprising why the Mainland Chinese stocks declined on January 23.

The death toll jumped to 17. Moreover, the World Health Organization is closely monitoring the situation.  On Thursday, the organization could decide whether to declare the disease a global health emergency.

Another problem is the outbreak coincided with Lunar New Year. During this period of time, millions of Chinese are traveling throughout the region.

As a result, Chinese carriers will lose a lot of money, as they had to cancel flights to and from Wuhan. Additionally, rail authorities also decided to cancel the tickets and to offer free cancellations to passengers.