Global markets tumbled yesterday as fears of the effects of the coronavirus on the global economy escalated, and Wall Street fell sharply amid investor doubts about a stimulus plan from President Donald Trump to deal with the repercussions of the virus on the American economy, while Japanese stocks fell to a three-year low. European stock markets gave up early gains to drop for a fifth session with a BoE stimulus failed to attract buyers.
US stocks deepened their losses at the end of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 1464 points, equivalent to 5.86 percent to 23553 points, and the S&P 500 index fell 139 points or 4.86 percent to record 2742 points, and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 392 points, or 4.70 percent to 7952 Point.
On the other hand, the European stock market closed at its lowest level in 14 months yesterday after it gave up its initial gains that were made when the Bank of England took stimulus measures, while weakness in the American markets contributed to increasing losses.
The benchmark STOXX 600 index ended the trading session down 0.7 percent after turning down when US futures pointed to losses on the Wall Street, indicating that the uncertainty surrounding the economic repercussions of the Corona virus will continue to cause severe damage to the markets.
The London Financial Times index fell 1.5 per cent, the German DAX fell 0.4 per cent, and the French CAC 0.6 per cent.
Asian stocks began trading yesterday with a sharp decline due to continued fears of the economic repercussions of the spread of the Corona virus emerging (Coved 19) and the ambiguity surrounding the plan of US President Donald Trump to stimulate the American economy in the face of the corona's consequences.
Japan's Topix index fell to its lowest level in more than three years yesterday as investors feared about the impact of the rapid outbreak of the Corona virus on the global economy.
Topix, the broadest index of the stock exchange, lost 1.5 percent to 1385.12 points, the lowest level since November 2018, to reflect its path after morning gains of 1.1 percent.
The index fell 20.7 percent from the peak of 1747.20 points recorded in December, to enter the range of betting on falling prices.
The Nikkei fell 2.3 percent to 19416.06 points, the lowest level in nearly 15 months and after a brief period in the morning.
Shares of the Bank of Japan, in which the state holds a majority stake but is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, fell 3.5 percent to the lowest level ever.
US Treasury yields rose from their lowest levels ever last night, sparking shares of interest-bearing financial companies in Tokyo.
Mitsubishi Financial Group shares rose 0.7 percent and Mizuho Financial Group rose 1 percent.
In South Korea, the main Kospi index of the Seoul Stock Exchange fell 2.78 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index in China fell 0.94 percent.
In South Korea, the main Kospi index of the Seoul Stock Exchange fell 2.78 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index in China fell 0.94 percent.
In the Middle East, the performance of Gulf stock exchanges varied yesterday with the decline in oil prices, and the Abu Dhabi index fell 0.2 per cent to 4,236 points, with First Abu Dhabi Bank losing 1.2 per cent and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank 5.2 per cent.
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, ADNOC, announced that it will raise crude supplies to more than four million barrels per day in April and accelerate plans to increase energy to five million barrels per day, according to Reuters.
And the Dubai index fell 1 per cent to record 2208 points, where shares of Commercial Bank of Dubai fell 9.9 per cent. Shares of "Emaar Properties" fell 1.4 percent after it said it would suspend reservations in three hotels because of "Corona".
The Qatar index rose 2.1 percent to 8,613 points. And the Bahrain index fell 0.3 per cent to 1493 points. The Muscat index rose 0.9 percent to 3798 points. The Kuwait index rose 1.4 percent to 5,174 points.
In Cairo, the main index of the Egyptian Stock Exchange fell 0.1 percent, to record 11,194 points, with the share of "Eastern Tobacco Smoke" rising 4.3 percent, while the share of "Egyptian Kuwaiti Holding" fell 4 percent.
