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Japan Nikkei tumbles on cornovirus crisis

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Capital Market
Last Updated : Feb 03 2020 | 12:50 PM IST
The Japan share market finished session lower on Monday, 03 February 2020, as risk-off selloff triggered on tracking Wall Street's slump late last week and yen appreciation against greenback amid the worsening coronavirus outbreak. At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 233.24 points, or 1.01%, to 22,971.94, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange sank 11.78 points, or 0.7%, at 1,672.66.

Total 32 issues of the 33 industry category of Topix index dived into negative territory, with Marine Transportation, Securities & Commodities Futures, Nonferrous Metals, Other Financial Business, Air Transportation, and Iron & Steel issues being notable losers.

Investors have been closely tracking the coronavirus outbreak in recent days. Stocks on Wall Street plunged on Friday amid concerns over the virus' potential economic impact.

China's National Health Commission reported the death toll in China had reached 361, surpassing the number of mainland deaths from SARS in 2002-2003, as of the end of Sunday. The number of confirmed cases hit 17205. Cases have been confirmed in the U.K., Germany, Finland, France, Italy, Spain, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, the U.S., Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Australia, Canada, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, Cambodia, Sweden and Russia.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Japan Manufacturing PMI Continues To Contract In January-Japan manufacturing sector continued to contract in January, with a manufacturing PMI score of 48.8, the latest survey from the IHS Markit revealed on Monday. That's up from 48.4 in December, although it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Individually, the indexes for output and new orders saw further declines, while export demand dipped although the downturn showed signs of easing. Business confidence was at its highest level since August 2018.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Japanese yen, often viewed as a safe-haven currency in times of economic uncertainty, appreciated against a basket of currencies. The Japanese yen traded at 108.48 per dollar after strengthening sharply from levels above 108.9 last week.

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First Published: Feb 03 2020 | 12:38 PM IST

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