Asian indices slumped in the last trading session of the worst week since the financial crisis in 2008. Rising recession fears amid the coronavirus outbreak have damaged global trade. New confirmed coronavirus cases continued to rise in South Korea and Europe.
The coronavirus outbreak rattled risky assets this week as the infection zone is expanding around the world. World Health Organization (WHO) in a press conference hasn’t called the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.
The Nikkei 225 was the underperformer, with losses of 3.67% down to 21,142. The Shanghai Composite index closed 3.38% lower at 2890. The Singapore FTSE Straits Times closed down 3.05% at 3015. Hank Seng in Hong Kong ended 2.79% lower at 26025. The ASX 200 benchmark was lower for the fifth trading session in a row, giving up 3.25% lower at 6441.
European stocks started sharply lower for one more session. The German DAX is 4.15% lower at 11,857. CAC40 index is 3.71% lower at 5,291, while the FTSE MIB in Milan is 3.04% lower at 22,105. In London, the FTSE 100 is 3.63% lower at 6,549.
In the commodities markets, crude oil sell-off continued on Friday with WTI crude oil down 3.19% at $45.58. Brent oil is 2.49% lower at $50.11 per barrel. The gold price is also under pressure today from the risk-off sentiment. The precious metal is 0.78% lower at 1632. The gold outlook is bullish. The first resistance for gold will be met at $1,689, the recent high, while the support stands at $1,600 the recent low. Silver price is 3.34% lower at $17.15.
Cryptocurrencies are trying to stabilize after the recent correction. Bitcoin (BTCUSD) is 0.27% lower at $8,791, hitting the daily low at $8,663 and the daily high at $8,891. Bitcoin’s momentum is negative now as the number one cryptocurrency broke below the 200-day moving average. Support for Bitcoin stands now at $8,500 the low from yesterday’s trading session. On the other hand, initial resistance stands at 8891, the daily high and then at 10,495 the yearly top.
Ethereum trades 0.35% lower at 226.10 with capitalization at 24.94 billion. The first resistance for ethereum stands at $274.18 recent high while the first support stands at $213.47, the February low. Ripple (XRPUSD) is 0.50% lower at 0.2371. Litecoin (LTCUSD) is 1.88% lower at 60.59. The crypto market capitalization is at $250.70 billion.
In the Lookout: Turkey Quarterly GDP came in at 6%, beating the forecasts of 5% in the fourth quarter.
The Japan Housing Starts (YoY) came in at -10.1%, below the forecasts of 6.1% in January. Japan Construction Orders (YoY) dropped -17% in January; the previous reading came at 21.4%.
The Central Bank of China set the Yuan reference rate at 7.0066 versus yesterday’s fix at 7.0215.
Trading Perspective: In the foreign exchange markets, the US dollar index is 0.20% lower at 98.19. The Aussie dollar is 0.49 lower at 0.6536 against the USD making fresh 11-year lows. NZDUSD trades 0.83% lower at 0.6254. The USDCHF pair is 0.40% lower at 0.9635.
