Investors scramble for the exits on surge in new coronavirus cases
Markets reel as new methodology sharply boosts death toll in Hubei, dashing hopes of epidemic peaking
Singapore — Asian stock markets wobbled on Thursday while safe-havens such as the yen, gold and bonds rose as the number of new coronavirus cases and deaths in the outbreak’s epicentre jumped.
China’s Hubei province, where the virus is believed to have originated, reported 242 new deaths, double the previous day’s toll, and confirmed 14,840 new cases on February 12. The rise in the number of cases, which came as officials adopted a new methodology for counting infections, is a sevenfold increase from a day earlier. It was not immediately clear how the new methods affected the results, nor why the death toll rose so sharply, but it seemed to dash hopes that the virus’ spread might be slowing...
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