BEIJING: Stocks in China plunged in early Monday trading as investors returned from a long holiday to the prospect of the world’s greater economy nearly shut down by the coronavirus epidemic.
According to details, the stocks in Shanghai China opened 8.7 percent lower, while shares in the southern Chinese boomtown of Shenzhen fell 9%.
The markets had been closed since Jan. 23 for the Lunar New Year holiday, and the Chinese government had extended that closure until Monday while the officials’ efforts dealt with the coronavirus.
Moreover, several other markets in China, shares in Tokyo and in Australia were down about 1.5 percent in early Monday trading. While in Hong Kong stocks opened about half a percent lower.
The damage could be confined to Asia. Futures markets that predict the performance of stocks in the next day predict a constructive opening for Wall Street and a mixed day for shares in Europe.
The death toll from the deadly coronavirus soared past 361 Monday as the Chinese stock market crashed on the first day of trade after the annual Lunar Year break.
The fresh toll came a day after China imposed a lockdown on several cities far from the epicentre and the first fatality outside the country was reported in the Philippines.
Authorities in Hubei, the province at the epicenter of the outbreak, reported 56 new fatalities, with one reported in the southwestern megalopolis of Chongqing.
That took the toll in China to 361, exceeding the 349 mainland fatalities from the 2002-3 SARS outbreak.
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