Bloody Monday for global equities

Stocks fell sharply in Europe today after heavy losses in Hong Kong and Asia. London's blue chip FTSE 100 index tanked by 8 percent.

At the close today, Hong Kong stocks plunged by more than 1,000 points, amid a rout in regional equity markets and heavy sell-off of US stocks. US stock futures indicate a heavy sell-off at the open Monday.

The Hang Seng Index shed 1,106.21 points, or 4.23 percent at 25,040.46. The main board turnover was HK$169.64 billion.

In the wake of a collapse in crude oil prices, Chinese oil major, CNOOC (0883) dived by 17.23 percent at HK$8.79. PetroChina fell by 9.63 percent at HK$2.72. China Oilfield (2883) tanked by 19.89 percent at HK$8.38.

AIA Group (1299) gave up 6.11 percent at HK$71.40, while Tencent Holdings (0700) lost 4.65 percent at HK$377.40. Alibaba Group (9988) lost 5.05 percent at HK$193.50. BOC Aviation (2588) fell by 8.41 percent at HK$58.30.

At midday, the HSI was at 25,230.55, down by 916.12 points, or 3.50 percent. 

The brutal sell-off of blue chips was triggered by fears of a  global recession from the deadly new coronavirus that emerged in China and rapidly enveloped the world. Deaths in China are staggering. As of Sunday, in Wuhan and Hubei province 5,395 have died from the virus.

Crude oil prices have also collapsed, hovering near US$30 a barrel.

Regional stock markets, including the Nikkei 225 and ASX200 are also falling sharply. In Tokyo, stocks have dived by 6 percent, the worst loss since June 24, 2016. 

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX slumped by 455 points, or 7.3 percent at  5,760.6 at the close.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index tanked by 3.01 percent at 2,943.29, donw by 91.22 points, while the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Composite Index sank by 3.79 percent at 1,842.66, down by 72.50 points at the close.

South Korean shares tumbled by more than 4 percent. The Korean won sharply fell against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 85.45 points, or 4.2 percent, to 1,954.77, its lowest point since August 29 last year, when the index closed at 1,933.41 points. Trading volume was heavy at 6 million shares worth 8.7 trillion won (US$7.2 billion), with losers far outnumbering gainers 866 to 33.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development this week slashed its forecast for global growth for this year to 2.4 percent from 2.9 percent. It warned that Japan and the 19 European countries that share the euro currency are in danger of recession. Italy may already be there.

China’s exports fell by double digits in January and February as anti-virus controls closed factories, while imports sank by a smaller margin. Exports have tumbled by 17.2 percent from a year earlier, a sharp reverse from December’s 7.8 percent rise, customs data showed Saturday. Imports fell by 4 percent, down from the previous month’s 16.3 percent gain.