Chinese chip stocks jump as Beijing reportedly warns against Nvidia’s H20
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* China says virus ability to spread getting stronger
* Some Asian markets closed for Lunar New Year holiday
By Tomo Uetake
TOKYO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Shares slid on Monday as investors
shunned equities on growing concerns over the scope of a China
virus outbreak, with safe-haven assets such as the Japanese yen
and Treasury notes in greater demand.
U.S. S&P 500 mini futures ESc1 shed 1.2% in early Asian
trade. The Nikkei futures traded in Chicago 0#NIY: suggested
Japanese shares .N225 are on course for a steep 2.0% decline.
Concerns over the spread of the coronavirus in China, and
the potential economic impact, continue to generate financial
market headlines.
"Media wins -- all you see is headlines about the
coronavirus, giving investors a reason to sell the markets,"
said Takeo Kamai, head of executions services at CLSA in Tokyo.
The ability of the coronavirus to spread is getting stronger
and infections could continue to rise, China's National Health
Commission said on Sunday, with more than 2,000 people globally
infected and 76 in China killed by the disease.
China's Cabinet also announced it will extend the week-long
Lunar New Year holiday by three days to Feb. 2 and schools will
return from their break later than usual, state broadcaster CCTV
said. Market participants kept a wary eye on developments
surrounding the coronavirus, which the World Health Organization
(WHO) deemed "an emergency in China," but not, as yet, for the
rest of the world on the eve of the Lunar New Year holiday.
Trade in Asia has already slowed for the Lunar New Year and
other holidays, with financial markets in China, Hong Kong and
Australia closed on Monday.
All three major Wall Street indexes closed sharply lower on
Friday, with the S&P 500 seeing its biggest one-day percentage
drop in over three months. The S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.90%, the Dow Jones Industrial
Average .DJI fell 0.58% and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC shed
0.93% after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
confirmed a second case of the virus on U.S. soil. U.S. Treasury prices advanced on Friday, pushing yields
lower for a fourth straight session, with the benchmark 10-year
notes US10YT=RR dropping to a nearly three-month trough of
1.670%. In the currency market, the concerns about the virus
supported the yen, often perceived as a safe haven because of
Japan's net creditor status.
The Japanese currency strengthened as much as 0.49% to
108.73 yen per dollar JPY= , a 2-1/2-week high.
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unturned bond yields plummet on cautious Lagarde tone, virus fears
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