Investors across the world dumped equities in expectation of a global recession as the world prepared for a coronavirus pandemic.

 

The US stock market fell into correction territory with the benchmark S&P 500 index down more than 4% on Thursday, extending a market rout that has now sliced more than 10% off of its closing peak on February 19. Asian stocks on Friday tracked Wall Street’s plunge, said a Reuters report.

 

Share prices were on track for the worst week since the global financial crisis in 2008 as virus-related disruptions to international travel and supply chains fuelled fears of recession in the United States and the Euro zone.

 

China, where the virus originated late last year, reported 327 new cases on Friday, the lowest since January 23, taking its total cases to more than 78,800 with almost 2,800 deaths.

 

But with countries other than China now accounting for about three quarters of new infections, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said all nations should prepare.

 

“This virus has pandemic potential,” Tedros said in Geneva on Thursday. “This is not a time for fear. This is a time for taking action to prevent infection and save lives now.”

 

Outside China the virus has spread to another 46 countries, where about 3,700 cases and 57 deaths have been reported, according to the WHO.