STI sees red on its return from the holidays

IT WASN'T much of a "welcome back" for the local equity market, which faced a vicious sell-off on its return from the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday.

Over the weekend, deaths from the Wuhan coronavirus tripled and confirmed cases doubled, presenting a worrying picture for many investors both here and the region.

Fears were also exacerbated by the World Health Organization (WHO) raising the global risk level of the virus to "high" despite it being confident in China's ability to control the spread.

"With coronavirus worries on the rise, the market continues to struggle with the unenviable task of factoring in absolute terms its implied economic devastation," said Stephen Innes, AxiTrader's chief Asia market strategist.…