European, Tokyo stocks slump as virus takes hold outside China

European and the Tokyo stock markets slumped once again on Thursday as new coronavirus infections surged outside China.

While the markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong both closed higher, Europe was a sea of red with London, Frankfurt, Paris and Italy all down around 2.0 per cent approaching the half-way mark. Tokyo closed with a loss of 2.1 per cent. Oil prices also tumbled more than two per cent, while the yen gained as traders turned to a traditional haven in times of economic turbulence.

"The stock market sell-off has picked up pace once more, with European markets... heavily in the red on continued fears of a global coronavirus pandemic," remarked Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG trading group. "What was a centralised focus on Italian containment efforts has now turned into a European-wide crisis as new cases pop up throughout the continent."

President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said France was preparing for a jump in the number of coronavirus cases, adding "we are going to have to deal with it as best we can". Visiting staff at a Paris hospital where the first French person carrying the new coronavirus died on Tuesday, Macron added: "We are facing a crisis, an epidemic that is coming."

President Donald Trump on Wednesday sought to ease concerns, telling reporters that he did not think it "inevitable" that COVID-19 would continue to spread throughout the United States. But in Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday called on schools to close nationwide from Monday for several weeks to prevent the spread.

Around 2,800 people have died in China and more than 80,000 have been infected. There have been more than 50 deaths and 3,600 cases in dozens of other countries, raising fears of a pandemic. Investors are growing increasingly fearful about the economic impact with several big companies including Apple, Microsoft and drinks giant Diageo expecting sales to be hit.

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The virus continues to spread meanwhile, with Brazil reporting Latin America's first case, and Greece, Georgia, Norway and Pakistan following suit. Shanghai's stock market nonetheless closed up 0.1 per cent as the virus appeared to be easing in China, while Hong Kong reversed earlier losses to end up 0.3 per cent.

Still, observers warned of worse to come for markets."There is still so much more uncertainty around how coronavirus is going to spread, particularly in the US," said Katie Koch at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The panic-selling has seen investors rush into haven investments, with the yield on 10-year and 30-year Treasuries around record lows, while oil is being battered by concerns about plunging demand. Both main crude contracts are down about one-fifth this year and were sitting at more than 12-month lows Thursday.