Equity markets in Australia, Japan and South Korea, trimmed their losses at the close today after a rout in the morning, triggered by concerns over the widespread economic damage from the coronavirus

Australian shares turned around after a frantic selling session earlier. The benchmark ASX 200 rebounded by 4.4 percent at 5,539 points during the final moments of an incredibly volatile session, ABC News reports. For most of the day, investors were panic selling, which drove the benchmark index sharply lower by 8.1 percent).

But about 2:25pm the market began to rebound — and finally turned positive within an hour.

Investors piled back into the share market shortly before Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged all Australians, to suspend all non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday.

Furthermore, local investors looked ahead to Wall Street's next trading session and how it was likely to perform. Dow Jones futures jumped by 617 points, suggesting the US market would rebound sharply when it re-opened.

Nevertheless, the ASX has shed 22.7 percent of its value in the last three weeks and remains firmly in bear-market territory.

About half of those losses (10.9pc) occurred this week alone amid the World Health Organisation declaring the coronavirus a global pandemic, and a collapse in oil prices due to Saudi Arabia and Russia entering a price war.

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 averagre closed down by more than 6 percent, after shedding more than 10 percent in the morning. The index close down by 6.08 percent or 1,128.58 points, at 17,431.05, while the broader Topix fell 4.98 percent or 66.18 points, to 1,261.70.

South Korean shares suffered a headlong fall today, plunging by more than 8 percent at one point but recouping some of the earlier losses to close 3.4 percent down, as financial authorities vowed to support a market jolted by the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

The Korean won finished at a six-month low against the U.S. dollar, after dipping to a 4-year low to the greenback earlier in the day.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price (KOSPI) Index surrendered 62.89 points, or 3.43 percent, to close at 1,771.44. The KOSPI plummeted to an intraday low of 1,680.60 points.

After the opening bell, the local stock market recorded a nosedive, prompting a brief trading halt on the main KOSPI and the secondary Kosdaq market. The tech-heavy Kosdaq market also erased earlier losses, ending 7 percent lower at 524.00 points after falling by almost 13 percent.

Regional markets trim losses