On Thursday, the Director-General of the World Health Organization made a comment that may affect the stock markets. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that the low number of cases outside of China might not stay at the same for an extended period of time.
In mainland China, the Shenzhen component added 1.05% to 11,629.70. At the same time, the Shenzhen composite rose 1.125% to 1,907.35.
The Shanghai Composite gained 0.31% to about 3,039.67.
Unfortunately, stocks in Japan, as well as South Korea, were unable to follow the footsteps of Chinese stocks.
South Korea’s Kospi index fell 1.49% to close at 2,162.84. Shares of SK Hynix decreased by 0.96%. On Thursday, 800 employees of SK Hynix had to quarantine themselves as trainee had contact with a virus patient.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.39% lower at 23,386.74. Shares of index heavyweight and conglomerate SoftBank Group added 2.4%.
The Topix index finished its trading day, mostly flat at 1,674.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 1.1% as of its final hour of trading. Shares of conglomerate Ping An Insurance declined 0.93%. Ping An Insurance released the information, including the data about its earnings on Thursday.
Moreover, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.33% to close at 7,139.
As a reminder, markets in India were closed on Friday for a holiday.
Stock Markets and Coronavirus
On Friday, China’s Ministry of Commerce released information that could help to boost the stock markets. Ministry reported that major foreign trade provinces such as Guangdong and Jiangsu achieved positive results when it came to the resumption of work.
In 2019, Guangdong was the biggest exporter among the regions of China. The second place belongs to Jiangsu, followed by Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Shandong.
On Friday, shares Foxconn fell about 1.33%. Foxconn is the major contract manufacturer and iPhone maker. Ongoing coronavirus outbreak caused a lot of problems.
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