Benchmarks in Tokyo and Hong Kong opened lower but were trading higher by midday, and losses in early trading were smaller than Wall Street's 4.4% overnight fall. Shanghai opened down but gained 0.3% at mid-morning while Seoul advanced 1.9%.
The Shanghai Composite Index gained to 2,743.64. The Kospi in Seoul rose to 1,716.60 while Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 declined 1.8% to 5,162.20.On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index lost 114.09 points on Wednesday to 2,470.50.The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 4.4% to 20,943.51. The Nasdaq composite fell 4.4% to 7,360.58.Department store icon Macy's has lost 74% so far in 2020. So much of its stock value has vanished that it was removed from S&P 500 index of big U.S.
"The number of unemployed is set to surge and 1H growth will be heavily affected," said Mizuho Bank in a report. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.