By Alex Ho
Investing.com - Asian markets fell on Friday morning as World health officials warned the new coronavirus could break out globally at any time.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.0% by 11:05 PM ET (03:05 GMT).
“The number of cases in the rest of the world is very small compared to what we have in China, but that may not stay the same for long,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva on Thursday.
There are now 74,675 cases of the coronavirus in China, Tedros said, including 2,121 deaths in the country. Outside of China, there are 1,076 confirmed cases in 26 countries, he added.
“The window of opportunity we have now may close, so we need to use the window of opportunity we have now by hammering the outbreak in any country,” Tedros said.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2%, while South Korea’s KOSPI fell 1.2%.
South Korea reported that confirmed cases of the virus grown by about two-thirds this week, taking the total across the country to 156.
Data today showed the country’s exports to China shrank 3.7% on-year. While shipments to China contracted, exports to the U.S. and Vietnam soared 24.2% and 19.8% each.
"Per-day exports to China probably was far worse" in seasonally adjusted terms, a Korea Customs Service official said after the data was released.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 slid 0.3%.
Chinese stocks outperformed their regional peers today. The Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component gained 0.5% and 1.5% respectively in morning trade.