Virus may steal limelight from earnings results

WITH the spread of the novel coronavirus showing little sign of abating, investor sentiment will continue to be dictated by developments from this front despite a slew of earnings releases from Singapore's largest corporates.

Asian equities have been sold off since late January on fears of contagion, though they staged a short-lived recovery in the middle of last week after the Chinese central bank provided stimulus injection to calm fears of a sharp slowdown in its economy.

But by Friday, anxiety returned to markets as Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI) slid 50.07 points, or 1.6 per cent, to close the week at 3,181.48 on fears that the government would raise its risk assessment of the virus situation.