China Stocks Plunge as Coronavirus Fears Grow

Stocks in Hong Kong opened down but later pared those losses and were trading flat.

The damage on Monday may be confined to Asia. Futures markets that predict the performance of stocks in the next day forecast a positive opening for Wall Street and a mixed day for shares in Europe.

Investors around the world have driven markets lower as the coronavirus has spread from China. More than 300 people have been reported to have died, all but one of them in China, and more than 17,000 infections have been confirmed.

While China’s extended holiday officially ended on Monday, much of the country remained closed. Various provincial and city governments have extended the holiday to Feb. 10 and even longer. Major airlines have cut flights to mainland China. International companies like General Motors, Apple and Starbucks have temporarily closed their operations there.

Jittery investors around the world may continue to sell stocks and other investments generally seen as risky. The global economic impact could become clearer and as companies disclose how the shut down of large parts of the Chinese economy will force them to adjust their supply chains and keep factories shuttered in China.

Starbucks last week said it was closing half of its more than 4,000 stores in China. Apple said it was forced to shut down all of its stores and switch some of its suppliers.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/02/business/global-markets.html?emc=rss&partner=rss