Asian petrochemical firms share were trading lower as investors are cautious that the deadly coronavirus outbreak will take a heavy toll on the Chinese economy.
As per report, some factories in China were scheduled to resume operations on 10 February after an extended Lunar New Year holiday, but most on Monday are expected to remain shut in the near term as death toll from the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the country now at more than 900.
As per market info, PetroChina was down 0.38% and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical inched up 0.28% in Shanghai.Chinese bourses were weak, with the Shanghai composite index was down 0.20%, while the Shenzhen composite index retreated by 0.22%.
On account of fears of coronavirus there will be an impact on economic growth which will be felt not only in China but possibly globally. China is the world’s second-biggest economy.
People say that there is considerable uncertainty around the impact of novel coronavirus outbreak on not only economic growth, but also on supply chains, and consequently on corporate earnings.
The impact of coronavirus on the Chinese economy in 2020 is likely to be more significant than that during SARS, with China's first-quarter GDP growth projected to decline to 3.8%, before rebounding to 6.4% in the second quarter.
