INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
TOKYO: Japan's Nikkei share average posted its biggest one-day loss in in five months on Monday, with tourism-related stocks under
pressure amid fears that a virus outbreak in China could be more deadly and harder to contain than initially thought.
The Nikkei share
average slumped 2.03 per cent, its biggest percentage fall since Aug
26, to end at 23,343.51 points, the lowest finish since Jan
The broader Topix lost 1.61 per cent to 1,702.57.
China extended its Lunar New Year holiday and more big businesses shut down and told staff
to work from home in a bid to contain the spread of the disease as the death toll rose to 81.
"While we can't tell how much the disease will
spread, one thing we can say for sure now is that consumption in China is already taking a hit as Beijing tries to contain the epidemic,"
said Hiroyuki Ueno, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management.
The Chinese government had barred outbound packaged tour
travel for Chinese travellers, denting shares of Japanese companies that have benefited from a rising influx of Chinese tourists.
Topix
airline shares subindex fell 3.4 per cent to their lowest since May 2017, with ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines falling 3.0 per cent and 3.9
per cent respectively.
Shares of Oriental Land dropped 7.8 per cent, the biggest fall in five years, following a Nikkei report that the
operator of Tokyo Disney Resort is likely to post its first fall in profit in three years in the nine months ended December.
Travel and
fell 6.8 per cent, while Keisei Electric Railway, which runs trains to Tokyo's Narita Airport from the city centre, shed as much as 6.2
per cent, largest loss in 3 1/2 years for the usually defensive stocks.
Cosmetic makers were also affected as their top-line has been
boosted by Chinese demand, with Shiseido down 5.5 per cent and Kose declining 5.9 per cent.
On the other hand, protective outfit maker
Azearth and Airtech Japan, who manufacture various apparatus for hospitals to prevent infections, rose by their daily limits, jumping 23.7
per cent and 17.1 per cent respectively.
Niitaka, which makes disinfectors, gained 21.8 per cent while mask maker Kawamoto Corp shot up 21.6
per cent.
Elsewhere, Net One System, which has been reported to have spearheaded fictitious transactions involving several companies to pad
profit, sank 23 per cent.
Aruhi lost 11.1 per cent on media report of document fabrication at the housing loan provider's franchise firms
The company said it has not confirmed the existence of such problems