The outbreak of Covid-19, also known as coronavirus, has had an impact on many areas of people’s lives. However, the stock market was among those affected the most thus far. Since the coronavirus spread began on December 31st in Wuhan, China, there has been a general decline in global stock markets as investors are afraid of the broader impact of coronavirus in the coming months. In total, global market losses have gone past $16 trillion dollars due to a fear that the virus could spur a worldwide recession.
Due to travel restrictions as well as quarantine orders, several world industries experienced major downturns. Numerous flights have already been canceled which had a severe influence on the airline as well as hospitality industries. Italy is among the most affected countries, as the country is largely dependent on tourism. In addition to that, Italy is also among the nations with the highest percentage of the population infected with the virus. As of March 14th, there have been 31,506 coronavirus cases in the country, followed by Iran, South Korea, Spain, France, Germany, and the USA. China remains first on the list.
The spread of coronavirus has also badly impacted clothing and restaurant industries, as people are now afraid of going out shopping or ordering goods that will be subjected to any type of shipment.
Manufacturing is yet another crucial component of the global market that has lately been experiencing a continuous decline. China, in particular, makes up a third of manufacturing worldwide and is indeed the leading country for exporting goods. Yet Chinese factories have recently been slowing down in order to prevent the spread of the virus. In particular, many big automobile companies that solely rely on China’s production, such as Nissan, have experienced notable downtrends in the stock market.
It is hard to predict the forecast for stock markets in the future. Currently, economies worldwide are trying to deal with the spread of coronavirus that has already had an impact on many different parts of people’s lives. As consumers are now shifting away from their purchasing priorities prevalent prior to the outbreak of the virus, stock markets correspondingly respond to such choices. A number of countries such as the United States, China, South Korea, Italy, and Germany have long played a significant role in setting up the right tone for stock markets worldwide. However, the countries are currently among the most largely virus-affected nation, which has a direct influence on those markets. By the end of March 2020, several large stocks worldwide are expected to trend lower. Those include Facebook, Shopify, S&P, Nvidia and more.
Thus there is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to discussing the performance of stock markets today and in the rest of 2020. What’s clear is that stock markets remain a hot topic of the day, and a decision to enter those markets certainly requires a great deal of consideration.
