This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy.World shares fell to their lowest in two weeks on Monday as worries grew about the economic impact of China’s spreading coronavirus with demand spiking for safe-haven assets such as Japanese yen and Treasury notes.
Shares of mining companies slumped 3.1%, dragged down by their exposure to China, the biggest decline among the major European subsectors. China announced it will extend the week-long new year holiday by three days to Feb. 2 and schools will return from their break later than usual. Chinese-ruled Hong Kong said it would ban entry to people who have visited Hubei province in the past 14 days.“With most Asian markets closed, fast-money investors are buying risk-off hedges like Treasuries and selling the Nikkei,” said Masahiko Loo, portfolio manager at Alliance Bernstein.
All three major Wall Street indexes closed on Friday, with the S&P 500 seeing its biggest one-day percentage drop in over three months.