Ambassador Li Jiming also said Bangladesh’s measures to contain coronavirus are not satisfactory.
Almost 95 percent of new cases of coronavirus are being detected outside China yet Bangladesh government is only screening passengers coming from China at the airports, the envoy said while briefing
“There’s concern that while there has been a response from the Fed, given the nature of the problem, is this something the central bank can really help with?” said John Davies, G10 rates strategist at Standard Chartered Bank in London.
European stocks continued their slide after the Japanese market dropped to a six-month low, with 97% of shares on the Tokyo exchange’s main board in the red.
Airline and travel stocks have been among the worst affected as people cancelled non-essential travel. Norwegian Air Shuttle (NWC.OL), the hardest-hit stock among European carriers, has fallen almost 70% since the start of February.
U.S. stock index futures dropped sharply over fears about the epidemic, which has prompted a sharp cut to global economic growth forecasts for 2020. The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX looked set to close out the week more than 10% below its record-high close on Feb. 19.
“If this really ramps up, we could see a lot more kitchen-sinking updates from the travel industry and airlines,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG. “What’s impressive about the current move is it probably understates the degree of disruption we could be facing across the U.S. and Europe.”
Yields on long-dated U.S. Treasury bonds fell to record lows, while gold was on course for its biggest weekly gain since 2011 as investors fled to assets seen as safe havens.
In Europe, British 10-year gilt yields GB10YT=RR also dropped to a record low, while German Bund yields DE10YT=RR fell to within striking distance of record lows.
Yields fall as prices rise.
More than 98,000 people have been infected in over 85 countries, according to a Reuters tally. Mainland China, where the outbreak began, has seen more than 3,000 deaths, while the death toll in Italy stood at 148.
At current rates, the number of confirmed cases of the virus will surpass 100,000 on Friday.
About 3.4% of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus – known as COVID-19 – have died, far above seasonal flu’s fatality rate of under 1%, the World Health Organization said this week.
Singapore reported 13 new infections on Friday, its biggest daily jump, including a cabin crew member from Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI).
In the United States, the world’s economic powerhouse, at least 57 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed as the virus struck for the first time in Colorado, Maryland, Tennessee and Texas, as well as San Francisco in California. Some 230 people have been infected in total and 12 have died.
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Google (GOOGL.O), Facebook, Amazon (AMZN.O), and Microsoft (MSFT.O) advised employees in the Seattle area to work from home, after some caught the virus. The companies’ work-from-home recommendation will affect more than 100,000 people in the area.
