Asian stock markets plunged Monday after oil prices nosedived on worries the global economy, weakened by a virus outbreak, might be awash in too much crude.
Tokyo's benchmark tumbled 5.5%, while Sydney fell 7.3%. Seoul sank 4% and Hong Kong lost 3.6%. Thailand's SET plummeted 6.8%. Shares also sank in Middle East trading on Sunday.
The latest jolt came from Saudi Arabia, Russia and other oil producers arguing over how much to cut output to prop up prices.
Investors usually welcome lower energy costs for industries and consumers, but in the current atmosphere of anxiety, they were rattled by the abrupt plunge.
Investors already were on edge about the mounting costs of the coronavirus outbreak that began in China and has disrupted travel and trade. Anxiety rose after Italy announced it was isolating cities and towns with some 16 million people, or more than one-quarter of its population.
On Monday Brent Crude Oil was at 34 dollars 17 cents a barrel, the biggest plunges since the Gulf War in 1991.
Meanwhile, the rand slumped to its weakest level in almost five years, after stock markets plunged around Asia this morning, as panic selling set in with traders fretting over the economic impact of the new coronavirus and digesting the free-fall in the oil price.
By early morning, the rand was down more than 3% to R16.28 to the US dollar, after reaching R16.97 earlier in the session.
It was trading above R21 to a pound and, against the euro, it plunged by almost 5% to R18.44.
BEIJING (AP)
