Hong Kong stocks drop beyond 2% on return from Lunar New Year holiday amid coronavirus fears

Shares in Hong Kong plummeted in Wednesday afternoon trade as the city’s markets returned from a holiday amid coronavirus fears. The Hang Seng index dropped almost 3% in early trade, before declining 2.81%, as of its final hour of trading. Hong Kong-listed shares of travel-related firms plummeted. China Eastern Airlines plunged 3.96% and China Southern Airlines dropped 4.08%. Insurance stocks also took a hit, with life insurer AIA declining 2.23% and Hong Kong-listed shares of China Life Insurance falling 4.27%. Meanwhile, gaming stocks dropped as Wynn Macau dove 4.78% and Melco International Development fell 5.39%.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Saturday declared a virus emergency in the city of 7.3 million, extending school cancellations until Feb. 17 and canceling all official visits to mainland China. The ongoing virus outbreak has killed more than 100 in China, according to Chinese health officials. The number of infected in China has also now surpassed that of SARS.

Lam announced a package of measures aimed at limiting the Asian financial hub’s connections to mainland China. Flights and high speed train journeys between Hong Kong and the Chinese city of Wuhan will be halted, and annual official Lunar New Year celebrations for the city have been scrapped.

Markets in China remain closed on Wednesday for a holiday. In other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.71% to close at 23,379.40 while the Topix index gained 0.45% to end its trading day at 1,699.95. South Korea’s Kospi also added 0.39% to close at 2,185.28. Stocks in Australia rose, with the S&P/ASX 200 closing 0.53% higher at 7,031.50. Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index was 0.6% lower.