New York/Hong Kong: Stock markets around the world have suffered unprecedented losses in the first three months of the year resulting in the worst quarter since 1987.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged by 23 per cent while London’s FTSE 100 reported a drop of 25 per cent.
Experts have predicted the hit to the global economy is likely to be worse than the financial crisis of 2009.
In the US, one central bank analysis suggested the unemployment rate could rise to more than 32 per cent over the next three months, as more than 47 million people lose their jobs. Primary US indexes stumbled, with the DOW dropping 1.8 per cent, the S&P 500 down 1.6 per cent, and the NASDAQ off almost 1 per cent.
According to Stephen Innes at AxiCorp, a likely increase in the duration and breadth of coronavirus lockdowns in the US and elsewhere, which is pointing to a potentially deeper and longer-term hit to economic activity than was anticipated even a week ago.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 (N225) slumped 4.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (HSI) fell 2.4 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) dipped 0.3 per cent.
However, China’s economy and businesses have been somewhat recovering from coronavirus. Alibaba (BABA) closed up 0.4 per cent, Baidu (BIDU) ended nearly 1.9 per cent higher and Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) climbed 3.9 per cent.
Earlier, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) had warned that world’s economy could grow at its slowest rate since 2009 with the possibility to drop as low as 1.5 per cent in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
