Stocks, Crude Hammered As Trump's Europe Ban Fans Recession Fears

Umer Jamshaid Published March 12, 2020 | 02:11 PM

Equities and oil prices fell through the floor again on Thursday after Donald Trump banned all travel from Europe to the US for a month to fight the coronavirus, ramping up fears the global economy will careen into recession

Hong Kong, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Mar, 2020 ) :Equities and oil prices fell through the floor again on Thursday after Donald Trump banned all travel from Europe to the US for a month to fight the coronavirus, ramping up fears the global economy will careen into recession.

The news came after the World Health Organization officially labelled the outbreak a pandemic and hit out at "alarming levels of inaction" for its spread.

Asian equity markets, already deep in the red in reaction to the WHO announcement, cratered after Trump's address.

Tokyo ended down 4.

4 percent, while Sydney lost 7.4 percent in the ASX 200's worst day since the 2008 financial crisis. Hong Kong fell 3.5 percent in the afternoon while Shanghai was off 1.5 percent.

Seoul, Singapore and Jakarta each lost more than three percent, while Mumbai tanked more than six percent and Bangkok more than eight percent.

Manila crashed almost 10 percent after it emerged Philippines President Rodrigo Dutertewould undergo a precautionary test for the virus, while his finance minister and head of the centralbank were among several officials who were to go into quarantine.