Stocks, oil prices skid as China virus fears drive investors to safe havens

Japan's Nikkei average slid 2.0%, the biggest one-day fall in five months, while a Tokyo-listed China proxy, ChinaAMC CSI 300 index ETF, slid 2.2%. Amid the Lunar New Year holiday, many markets in Asia were closed.

TOKYO: Shares tumbled on Monday as investors grew increasingly anxious about the economic impact of China's spreading virus outbreak, with demand spiking for safe-haven assets such as the Japanese yen and Treasury notes.

Japan's Nikkei average slid 2.0%, the biggest one-day fall in five months, while a Tokyo-listed China proxy, ChinaAMC CSI 300 index ETF, slid 2.2%. Amid the Lunar New Year holiday, many markets in Asia were closed.