Stocks suffer as countries stop business operations to contain virus

SYDNEY- Asian shares dropped on Monday as series of national lockdowns endanger authorities’ schemes of nursing economic disruptions and what appears to be a sharp worldwide recession brought by the novel coronavirus.

S&P 500 E-mini futures sunk down 5% while the EUROSTOXXX 50 futures plummeted 6.4%. MSCI”s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares shed 3.8% as New Zealand’s stock market declined by 10 due to government’s decision of closing some businesses.

Shanghai blue chips tumbled 2.3% and Japanese benchmark index Nikkei managed to performed well with 0.8%, supported by expectations of a more upbeat asset purchase by the Bank of Japan.

Various airlines had already cancelled flights as Australia and New Zealand released its recent memorandum particular to non-essential domestic travel. In line with this, United Arab Emirates restricted travel for two weeks while Singapore and Taiwan refused to welcome foreign passengers.