(Adds MSCI ex-Japan and Nikkei, updates levels throughout)
* Asian stock markets : https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* Australian, NZ shares fall; oil slides, gold firm
* Coronavirus death toll in China rises to 350
* China cbank to inject $174 bln liquidity on Monday
* Economists lower growth forecasts for Chinese economy
By Swati Pandey
SYDNEY, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Asian markets are set for another
bumpy ride on Monday on fears about the hit to world growth from
the rapidly spreading coronavirus, with all eyes on China where
trading resumes following the Lunar New Year break.
A total of 361 people have died in China from the new virus
with the first death out of the mainland reported on Sunday in
the Philippines. Looking to head off any panic, China's central bank plans to
inject 1.2 trillion yuan ($173.8 billion) of liquidity into the
markets via reverse repo operations on Monday. Beijing also said it would help firms that produce vital
goods resume work as soon as possible, state broadcaster CCTV
reported. Despite the measures, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific
shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was 0.5% lower, on track
for an eighth straight day of losses.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 stumbled 1.5% and South Korea's KOSPI
index .KS11 was off 1.4%. Australia's benchmark index .AXJO
was down 0.7%, while New Zealand shares .NZ50 fell 1.8%.
"These initial interventions aim to boost confidence, but
they are unlikely to be sufficient to curtail a sharp downturn
in Q1," Citi economists said in a note.
"As most employees won't return to work until Feb. 9, the
output losses are likely to be larger than expected, and
incoming economic activity data will continue to prompt the
authorities to take more actions in order to reduce the adverse
impact of the Wuhan coronavirus on the economy."
Chris Weston, a Sydney-based strategist at broker
Pepperston, said "the big unknown" was how China's financial
markets respond to the show of force from the country's central
bank.
"The fact the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC)
has detailed they see the impact of the coronavirus as
'short-lived' is designed to instil confidence," Weston said.
"Whether the market feeds off this optimism is another thing
given the spread of the virus is still in its exponential
stage."
On Friday, the Dow .DJI fell 2.1%, the S&P 500 .SPX
declined 1.8% and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 1.6% as
economists tempered their outlook for the world's second-largest
economy. In a sign of a pause in the selloff elsewhere, E-Mini
futures for the S&P500 ESc1 added 0.2% on Monday.
Analysts expect travel curbs and supply chain disruptions to
crimp Chinese growth, with a potential domino effect on other
economies.
Citi revised its full-year forecast for China's GDP growth
to 5.5% in 2020 from 5.8%. It also cut first-quarter growth
expectations to 4.8%, compared with 6% in the fourth quarter of
2019.
JPMorgan shaved its forecast for global growth by 0.3
percentage points for this quarter.
Data out of the United States and Europe on Friday also
pointed to economic weakness, while a mixed batch of corporate
earnings added to the gloom.
In currencies, the safe-haven Japanese yen JPY= held near
a 3-1/2 week high against the dollar at 108.41 after adding
about 1.5% in the last two weeks.
The risk sensitive Australian dollar AUD=D3 , which is
often traded as a liquid proxy for the Chinese yuan, tumbled 2%
last week to hit a four-month trough of $0.6683. It was last up
0.1% at 0.6694.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a
basket of major currencies, was a shade higher at 97.439. .DXY
Gold, which posted its best month in five in January, eased
to $1,588.72, while yields on U.S. debt lingered near five-month
lows as the United States, Japan and other countries tightened
travel curbs to China. XAU=
Oil futures skidded on concerns the coronavirus outbreak
would hit China's oil demand. Brent crude LCOc1 slid $1.06 to
$55.56 a barrel, the lowest since January 2019. U.S. crude
CLc1 slipped 84 cents to $50.72.
Asia stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Asia-Pacific valuations https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA
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(Editing by Sam Holmes and Richard Pullin)