Given China's economic heft and position in the nexus of global supply chains, the new strain of coronavirus is affecting companies from far and wide in multiple sectors.
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific is suffering the biggest financial hit, and on Wednesday asked its entire workforce of 27,000 to take up to three weeks of unpaid leave. That could affect global supply chains for tech companies that rely on Foxconn to assemble everything from Apple's iPhones to flat-screen TVs and laptops.
Chinese giant Huawei says it is still examining its options for the February 24-27 conference in Barcelona.Wuhan, the central Chinese city that is ground zero of the outbreak, is a hub for foreign carmakers from the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea. Electric car pioneer Tesla says the virus could delay a planned acceleration of production at its giant new factory in Shanghai, and potentially affect earnings this quarter.Mainland China is the second-biggest market of US coffee chain Starbucks, with more than 4,000 outlets. Half of them have been closed by the outbreak.
Heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar, which has already suffered from the Sino-US trade war, warned of "continued global economic uncertainty" this year.