As U.S. investors returned to the markets Tuesday after a long weekend, they found Asian stock markets dropping on fears that a flu-like virus in China could spread and become a pandemic.
A top Chinese health official confirmed on Monday that the so-called coronavirus is now able to spread via human-to-human contact, similar to how influenza can be "caught" from a handshake or sneeze. The virus has already killed at least six people in central China, where it is believed to have originated, according to local reports. Confirmed cases of the virus, which resembles pneumonia in its symptoms, have jumped to nearly 300, adding a new element of worry for public health officials in Asia as tens of millions of people are set to travel in the coming days to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
That worry translated to a nearly 1.5 percent drop in the Shanghai Composite at Tuesday's close, its biggest decline in weeks. The Nikkei in Japan and Hang Seng in Hong Kong also closed lower. Hong Kong stocks had their worst day in five months, partly due to fears that the coronavirus could jump from the mainland and add a new burden on top of the protests that have crippled the region's economy.
The World Health Organization has convened an emergency meeting, scheduled for Wednesday in Geneva, to determine whether the outbreak constitutes a public-health emergency that would allow the WHO to deploy resources.
With the coronavirus now communicable through person-to-person contact, it resembles the early days of the SARS outbreak, which began with a similar type of virus and ultimately killed nearly 800 people in southern China in 2002 and 2003.
Longtime Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is facing sharp questioning before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee where he is defending the company’s actions during an ongoing unionizing campaign.
Apple Pay is getting in on the buy now pay later boom with a feature allowing users to split purchases into four separate payments over six weeks at no additional cost or interest.
UBS says it’s bringing back former CEO Sergio Ermotti to lead the Swiss bank as it moves forward with a government-orchestrated plan to take over struggling rival Credit Suisse.
San Francisco-based technology startup Illumix just closed a $18 million Series A round of funding, and in a rare move for the Shark Tank star, Mark Cuban contributed.
Austin Graff, founder and CIO of Opal Capital in Austin, Texas, offers his take on why stocks opened higher Wednesday, saying investors appear tentatively optimistic about regulatory actions being taken around struggling banks, even as they remain worried about the long-term consequences of federal action on the sector. "
Credit Suisse violated a plea agreement with U.S. authorities by failing to report secret offshore accounts that wealthy Americans used to avoid paying taxes, U.S. lawmakers said Wednesday.
Honda is recalling more than 330,000 vehicles because heating pads behind both side-view mirrors may not be bonded properly, which could lead to the mirror glass falling out and increase the risk of a crash.
