SINGAPORE - Asian share markets steadied on Wednesday as investors took stock of the spread of a new strain of coronavirus from China and weighed the possible consequences of a global pandemic.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan spent the morning trading either side of flat. "After weeks of gains ... the virus has loomed large because of the market's positioning," said Michael McCarthy, Chief Market Strategiest at brokerage CMC Markets in Sydney. Authorities have confirmed more than 300 cases of the virus in China, mostly in Wuhan, where six people have died.
" virus is believed to be less serious than the SARS outbreak ... but it does belong to the same class of pathogens," Jefferies analysts wrote in a note."The major point is whether the virus turns from an outbreak to an epidemic."