TOKYO — Stocks in Asia sank at the open on Thursday, extending a global rout as fears intensify over the spread of the new coronavirus, now dubbed a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
Australia's ASX was down 2.6 percent an hour into trade, with New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 down nearly three percent in early afternoon trade. South Korea's KOSPI was down 1.22 percent in early trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Index plunged around 1,465 points, or 5.9 percent, to 23,553.22 on Wednesday, in a bruising session that left the index more than 20 percent below its peak, making it a bear market.
Oil prices slid further on Thursday morning, with Brent crude at $35.72 a barrel, after Saudi Arabia and Gulf partner UAE stepped up a price war with plans to flood the global markets. "Markets are crying out for a coordinated response to COVID-19 headwinds and a lack of concrete US policy action is rattling markets," he said.