This year the Chinese government had to extend the Lunar New Year holiday due to the coronavirus outbreak. Chinese officials-imposed travel restrictions to prevent the spread of this virus. Stock markets are struggling to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
On Monday, some of the factories reopened. However, many are expected to remain shut for a longer period.
Additionally, quarantines and other measures could disrupt the manufacturing sector this year.
Hubei province is one of the major manufacturing hubs in China. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the government had to close the factories to contain the virus.
It is worth mentioning that most Asian economies import 20-30% of their intermediate goods from China. Consequently, a lot of companies depend on products that come from China.
Stock markets on Monday
Markets in many Asian countries declined on Monday. Meanwhile, mainland Chinese stocks recovered from their earlier slip and strengthened their positions.
The Shanghai Composite gained 0.51% to about 2,890.48. Meanwhile, another stock index, which is the Shenzhen component also had a positive day. Its index added 1.1% to 10,728.46.
Moreover, the Shenzhen composite jumped 1.215% to around 1,757.26.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell by 0.07% as of its final hour of trading. Coronavirus fears affected Hotspot stocks. Also, shares of Haidilao declined by 4.06% whereas Xiabuxiabu Catering Management dropped 6.07%.
Stock markets experienced problems on February 10. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell by 0.06% to close at 23,685.98. At the same time, the Topix index declined by 0.72% to end its trading day at 1,719.64.
South Korea’s Kospi index also declined on February 10. Its index fell by 0.49% to close at 2,201.07.
On Monday, shares of Taiwan-listed Hon Hai Precision Industry, known as Foxconn, fell by 1.09%. Foxconn is the world’s largest iPhone assembler. The company is struggling to resume daily operations as coronavirus continues to influence the factories across the country.
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