Stability in Unstable Times
With the recent outbreak of the Coronavirus now having cases across Asia, the Middle East and Europe, financial and international markets are already seeing negative effects. Wuhan, the centre of the outbreak, and other cities in the province, are currently on lockdown, however as China being the world’s largest economy and leading in trading, the vast spread of the virus has had direct effects on trading and stocks.
This epidemic circulating outside of China has meant that people either can’t or don’t want to travel, global stocks are on a decline, and manufacturing supply chains are seeing a decrease in demand. Major airlines such as American Airlines, Delta, and FedEx have seen drops in stocks of more than 5%, and the oil industry is having the biggest shock to demand since the 2008 financial crisis due to China being one of the biggest importers. Many other aspects such as the tourism industries and the pharmaceutical companies in China have also experienced disruption due to the spreading virus.