Global stocks plunge into bear market

HONG KONG — Global equities and oil prices fell through the floor again on Thursday after Donald Trump banned all travel from mainland Europe to the US for a month to fight the coronavirus, ramping up fears the global economy will careen into recession.

The news came after the World Health Organisation (WHO) officially labelled the outbreak a pandemic and hit out at "alarming levels of inaction" for its spread.

Asian equity markets, already deep in the red in reaction to the WHO announcement, cratered after Trump's address.

Tokyo ended down 4.4 per cent, putting it in a bear market after falling more than 20 per cent from a recent high, while Sydney lost 7.4 per cent in the ASX 200's worst day since the 2008 financial crisis.

Hong Kong fell 3.7 per cent, though Shanghai was off 1.5 per cent as China continues to see infection rates slow.

Seoul, Singapore and Jakarta lost more than three per cent, Mumbai tanked more than 6 per cent and Wellington slid five per cent while Taipei retreated 4.3 per cent.

Manila crashed 10 per cent — sparking a brief trading halt — after it emerged Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte would undergo a precautionary test for the virus, while his finance minister and head of the central bank were among several officials who were to go into quarantine. It ended down 9.7 per cent.

Bangkok also triggered an automatic halt by falling 10 per cent.

In early trade London and Paris each plunged 4.5 per cent, while Frankfurt dived five per cent. Gulf markets also tumbled, with Riyadh down more than 4 per cent.

The Japanese yen, a key haven in times of crisis, jumped more than 1 per cent against the dollar.

"Travel restrictions equal slower global economic activity, so if you need any more coaxing to sell... after a massively negative signal from trading in US markets it just fell in your lap," said AxiCorp's Stephen Innes.

The losses followed another brutal session on Wall Street, where the Dow fell into a bear market and futures pointed on Thursday to another rout.

The coronavirus outbreak has left virtually no sector untouched, though travel and tourism have been particularly hard-hit as countries institute travel bans and quarantine requirements, with Italy in a country-wide lockdown.

The number of cases across the globe has risen to more than 126,000 with 4,600 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In announcing the Europe ban — which excludes Britain — Trump said the continent had seen a surge in new cases because governments failed to stop travel from China, where the COVID-19 epidemic began.

He said the prohibitions would also "apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo", and "various other things as we get approval". 

However, the White House afterwards clarified that "the people transporting goods will not be admitted into the country, but the goods will be".

'Crying out 

for a response' 

Oil prices were also hammered, with both main contracts falling around 6 per cent at one point before edging back slightly. The oil market was already under pressure after Saudi Arabia and Gulf partner UAE stepped up a price war with plans to flood global markets.

"We are now staring at the whole world going into a lockdown," Vandana Hari, of Vanda Insights, said. "Oil demand can be expected to crash through the floor and all previous projections on oil consumption are now out the door."

The Saudi move was the latest escalation of a fight among oil producers after Russia balked at an OPEC-backed plan to cut production in response to lost demand because of the coronavirus.

"Markets are crying out for a co-ordinated response to COVID-19 headwinds and a lack of concrete US policy action is rattling markets," said Tapas Strickland, senior analyst at National Australia Bank.

Trump's address included several measures intended to ease the financial burden particularly for small business, including payroll tax relief and deferred tax payments.

But he did not unveil any large-scale tax cuts, which OANDA's Jefrey Halley said "has probably disappointed markets more than anything".

The bloodbath across global trading floors has come despite a raft of measures by governments worth at least $150 billion to offset the impact of the outbreak, while central banks will be called upon to cut already low interest rates and introduce other fiscal measures.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will do "whatever is necessary" to help the economy, while the European Central Bank was due to hold a policy meeting later in the day at which it is under pressure to open up the taps.