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Coronavirus live updates: stock markets plunge on global recession fears Coronavirus live updates: stock markets plunge on global recession fears
(32 minutes later)
With cases spiking sharply across Europe and emergency measures in place from California to Saudi Arabia, investors have sent shares tumbling. Follow all the developments liveWith cases spiking sharply across Europe and emergency measures in place from California to Saudi Arabia, investors have sent shares tumbling. Follow all the developments live
Still in Australia, where Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is addressing the media. Asked about the concerns casual workers have over disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak, he says:
The ASX-200 is now down 5.8%.
Australian treasurer Josh Frydenberg says, “Australia is well prepared, economically, and we go into this challenge from a position of strength.”
Asked about today’s ASX tumble, Frydenberg says, “This is a very different situation to what we saw through the GFC, which was essentially, a problem with the banking and the financial system and issues of liquidity. We haven’t seen those same problems in relation to this health crisis.”
Australian treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the economic impact of Coronavirus is “very significant”.
Still in Australia for the moment, the ABC’s state political reporter in Perth Jacob Kagi said in a tweet that the fifth case in Western Australia contracted the virus from her husband, who had recently returned from Iran.
A fifth case of Covid-19 has been confirmed in Western Australia, the ABC reports.
In Australia, “as far as prioritising our testing capacity in coming weeks, the state government will be prioritising testing for health care workers,” says health minister Jenny Mikakos.
Victorian health minister Jenny Mikakos is briefing the media on the latest cases in the state. Asked whether she would like to apologise for her use of the word “flabbergasted” referring to the story of a doctor who presented to work last week with symptoms, she says:
“Look, I needed to stress – and I will continue the stress the fact – we need to be alive to the facts. This is a public health emergency of an unprecedented nature that our nation and that the entire global community is facing.”
In Australia, Victoria health minister Jenny Mikakos says, “We’ve increased in Victoria, the the biggest jump we have had so far. Three additional cases just today. A big jump from 10 to 15 cases in the last three days.
In Australia, Victoria health minister Jenny Mikakos is asked whether she wishes to apologise to Chris Higgins, the doctor who presented to work despite having flu-like symptoms and was later diagnosed as having Covid-19.
She responds by thanking all health care workers for their work.
“We will not make any apology for the fact that we will always prioritise public health,” she adds.
There are three additional cases today in Victoria.
Victoria health minister Jenny Mikakos is giving a press conference, she says there have been around three hundred presentations at hospitals in the state.
She is issuing a reminder to health care practitioners to not come to work if they are showing any symptoms and to stay away until those symptoms have completely gone away.
In Australia, Victoria health minister Jenny Mikakos is giving a press conference. In this emergency, “We cannot operate on fear or favour,” she says.
The trading day is under way in Japan and South Korea and it’s more of the same with the Nikkei down 4.5% as signalled by the futures market earlier. In Seoul, the Kospi index has lost 3%.US government bond yields have also sunk to new lows this morning, a sign of increasingly negative outlook on the global economy as investors take money out of risky assets such as shares and commodities (oil, for example) and put it into rock solid investments with a guaranteed return. Others safe havens such as the Japanese yen and gold have also risen in value.The trading day is under way in Japan and South Korea and it’s more of the same with the Nikkei down 4.5% as signalled by the futures market earlier. In Seoul, the Kospi index has lost 3%.US government bond yields have also sunk to new lows this morning, a sign of increasingly negative outlook on the global economy as investors take money out of risky assets such as shares and commodities (oil, for example) and put it into rock solid investments with a guaranteed return. Others safe havens such as the Japanese yen and gold have also risen in value.
The benchmark US treasury 10-year bond yield (basically the interest rate paid on government bonds) has fallen to 0.4949% in trade in Japan this morning.The benchmark US treasury 10-year bond yield (basically the interest rate paid on government bonds) has fallen to 0.4949% in trade in Japan this morning.
So just to recap that, in New South Wales, Australia, the state health minister Brad Hazzard has confirmed another case in a school: A year 7 student at Willoughby Girls school has tested positive to Covid-19. Health authorities are interviewing the girl, her family members, and undertaking contact tracing, he says.
This brings the new cases for New South Wales to six this morning,
Still in New South Wales Australia, for the moment, where state health minister Brad Hazzard says, “This is a virus is active across the world. We can anticipate it will be active here, although thus far, New South Wales and Australia are doing extraordinarily compared to the rest of the world.”
New South Wales’ Health Minister Brad Hazzard says “These are matters are evolving and literally as I walked into the media conference I was being informed [of what was happening]”.
He adds that if you have mild systems, you should call your GP for advice. If you have severe symptoms you should call your ED right away to arrange a visit.
More on the response at St. Patrick’s Marist College in Dundas, Executive director of Catholic Schools Parramatta, Greg Whitby, who says parents have been directed to pick their children up from school when they are able to.
He does not know how long measures will be in place for, and said the school could not close as not all parents are able to arrange child care on short notice.
In Australia, New South Wales’ Health Minister Brad Hazzard says a year seven student has been confirmed at Willoughby High school. The other cases include two men in their fifties who “appear to have some connection, – family contact – with some of the cases that have previously been announced.”
The other four new infections are the two students at St. Patrick’s Marist, the student at Willoughby and a mother connected with the Willoughby student.
In Australia, New South Wales’ Health Minister Brad Hazzard says there are another six cases confirmed in the state.
In the US, the price of futures contracts for the S&P 500 index, a Wall Street benchmark, fell more than 4% on Sunday as off-hours trading for U.S. equity markets resumed, a sign that investors fear the toll from the fast-spreading coronavirus will deepen.
Italy, the country hardest hit by the virus in Europe, essentially locked down much of its wealthy north, including the financial capital Milan, in a drastic attempt to contain an outbreak that saw the number of deaths leap sharply on Sunday.
Contracts for the S&P 500 E-mini fell 4.2% to 2839. The decline indicates how much the S&P 500 might fall when trading begins on Monday.
The implied yield on the futures contract for the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell below 0.5% for first time. The benchmark Treasury hit a historic low on Friday, closing at 0.707%, as markets reacted to the coronavirus. It was the first time the 10-year note had traded below 1%.
Corporations around the world have begun issuing profit warnings and curbing activities as the virus spreads.
The ASX200 is in freefall this morning, losing 5.5% with energy stocks bearing the brunt of the selling. Santos shares have fallen 23% in response to the shock decision over the weekend and Woodside Petroleum is down 18%. The energy sector as a whole is off 20%.https://twitter.com/GrogsGamut/status/1236800247705341952
The dramatic selloff has been sparked by Saudi Arabia’s shock decision over the weekend to increase rather than decrease oil production.
A cut had been expected to keep prices stable in the wake of falling global demand due to the coronavirus. But after Opec ministers met In Vienna and then failed to persuade Russia to agree to the cut which would reduce supply and boost prices, the Saudis appear to have decided to embark on a price war designed to drive competitors such as Russia and the US shale industry out of the market altogether.
Once that’s done, Saudi Arabia would, in theory, be left to control production and therefore set higher prices. But whether or not it’s possible to ever eliminate fleet-footed US shale producers is a matter of debate.
The Australia Securities Exchange (ASX) is now down 5.5%, wiping more than AU$140bn off the Australian share market.
US senator Ted Cruz has released a statement saying he “briefly interacted with an individual who is currently symptomatic and has tested positive for Covid-19” while at the Conservative Political Action Conference ten days ago.
He says he is not experiencing any symptoms and that the interaction – “a brief conversation and a handshake – does not meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s criteria for self quarantine and that none of the people Cruz has interacted with in the last 10 days. He has nevertheless decided to remain in Texas for the remainder of the 14-day period.