SINGAPORE: The rapid spread of a deadly virus from China will be top of emerging-market investors’ minds as they ponder its impact on the global economy.
Concern the outbreak will develop into something akin to the SARS pandemic of 2003 halted a seven-week rally in developing-nation stocks, currencies and bonds in the five days through Friday.
The yuan underperformed emerging peers last week, while China’s main stock index, the Shanghai Composite, had the worst end to a Lunar New Year in its three-decade history. China’s death toll from the virus climbed to at least 80 and confirmed cases in the Asian nation jumped to more than 2,700.