China January factory activity growth slows to five-month low – Caixin survey

China’s factory activity expanded at its slowest pace in five months in January, even as an outbreak of a new virus added to risks facing the world’s second-largest economy, a private survey showed on Monday.

The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) eased to 51.1 from 51.5 in December, missing expectations but remaining above the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction for the sixth straight month. Analysts had expected a reading of 51.3.
The findings, which focus mostly on small and export-oriented businesses, were slightly more optimistic than those in an official survey released on Friday, which showed growth had stalled.
But they likely did not reflect the early impact of the public health crisis which flared in late January, which could weigh heavily on economic growth in coming months.
More than 300 people have died from the flu-like virus in China so far and over 14,000 have been infected, with more cases being reported around the world.
The outbreak has prompted widespread transport curbs and tough public health measures in the past week that are already hitting the travel, tourism and retail sectors.
Millions of migrant workers who had returned home for the long Lunar New Year holidays last week may be unable to return to factory floors, and companies in a number of areas including some major manufacturing hubs have been told to stay closed for another week or more.
“In the near term, China’s economy will also be impacted by the new pneumonia epidemic,” and will need more government support, Zhengsheng Zhong, director of macroeconomic analysis at CEBM Group, said in comments on the survey.
Limited improvement in domestic and foreign demand meant some manufacturers did not replenish stocks, said Zhong.
New export orders slipped back into contraction after three months of expansion, while production and total new orders slowed but remained in expansionary territory.
Factories also shed jobs in January for the first time since October.
But business confidence rose to a 22-month high, boosted by a trade deal signed in January between the United States and China, Zhong said. Fears of an epidemic only began to surface late in the month.
Economic growth in China slowed markedly to 6.1% last year, the weakest pace in nearly three decades, amid a bruising trade war with the U.S and despite Beijing’s stimulus to boost sluggish investment and demand.
During the SARS outbreak in 2002-03, China’s economic growth fell 2 percentage points in a few months, but it rebounded quickly once the disease was brought under control. However, both Chinese demand and the global economy had generally been in better shape.

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/China-January-factory-activity-growth-slows-to-five-month-low-Caixin-survey–29929957/

Glaxo to collaborate with CEPI in effort to develop coronavirus vaccine

British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc is collaborating with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to contribute towards the effort of developing a vaccine for the coronavirus outbreak, GSK and CEPI said on Monday.

GSK will make its “adjuvant platform technology” available for developing a vaccine against the 2019-nCoV virus, according to the statement.
The use of adjuvant allows for production of more vaccine doses and hence would increase availability to more people.
GSK will engage with entities funded by the CEPI with the first of these agreements having been signed between the British drugmaker and Australia’s University of Queensland, the statement added.
The fast-moving flu-like virus has killed more than 300 people in China, spread to more than two dozen countries and caused the world’s second largest economy to be hit by travel curbs and business shut-downs.
There is currently no vaccine available against the coronavirus but several organisations including CEPI, a public-private body based in Norway, are working at developing one.
France’s Pasteur Institute Foundation said on Friday it had set up a task force aimed at developing a vaccine against the virus in 20 months while Germany’s research minister said she expected a vaccine to be developed within “a few months”.

https://www.marketscreener.com/GLAXOSMITHKLINE-9590199/news/GlaxoSmithKline-GSK-to-collaborate-with-CEPI-in-effort-to-develop-coronavirus-vaccine-29929901/

Japan to take steps to protect citizens from coronavirus – Abe

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that Japan would adopt necessary measures without hesitation to protect its citizens from the new coronavirus outbreak that originated in China.

Abe, speaking to parliament, said Japan had already started developing rapid diagnostic test kits for the virus.

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/Japan-to-take-steps-to-protect-citizens-from-coronavirus-Abe–29929930/

China will help vital goods makers resume operations ASAP – state TV

China said on Sunday it will help firms that produce vital goods resume work as soon as possible, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday, citing a meeting chaired by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

Non-essential sectors, however, will be allowed flexibility in how they resume operations after the Lunar New Year holiday as the country seeks to stem spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
CCTV also said China will speed up construction of hospitals in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, and ensure sufficient medical supplies to deal with the virus there and in Wuhan city.

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/China-will-help-makers-of-vital-goods-resume-operations-as-soon-as-possible-state-TV–29929589/?countview=0

Financial market website Zero Hedge knocked off Twitter on coronavirus story

Twitter Inc has banned financial market website Zero Hedge from the social media platform after it published an article linking a Chinese scientist to the outbreak of the fast-spreading coronavirus last week.Zero Hedge said it received a notification from Twitter on Friday, accusing it of violating Twitter’s “rules against abuse and harassment.”

The move against the website came as the coronavirus has stoked a wave of anti-China sentiment around the globe. Hoaxes have spread widely online, promoted by conspiracy theorists and exacerbated by a dearth of information from the cordoned-off zone around China’s central city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began.
Twitter confirmed to Reuters on Sunday Zero Hedge’s account on its platform had been permanently suspended for violating “platform manipulation policy.”
Zero Hedge said it initially thought the suspension was triggered by an article it published on Friday about the makeup of the coronavirus. But it said it later learned Twitter had received a complaint from online news website BuzzFeed over a separate article.
BuzzFeed said Zero Hedge had released the personal information of a scientist from Wuhan in an article that made allegations about coronavirus having been concocted “as a bioweapon.” The article was titled “Is This The Man Behind The Global Coronavirus Pandemic?”
BuzzFeed did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last week, Twitter had said “those who engage in coordinated attempts to spread disinformation at scale about coronavirus issue will be removed from service.”
Facebook Inc also said it would take down misinformation about the virus.
Zero Hedge, which covers mostly finance and economics, had more than 670,000 followers on Twitter as of its suspension.
The coronavirus has killed more than 300 people in China, and more than two dozen other countries have confirmed cases of the virus.
https://www.marketscreener.com/FACEBOOK-10547141/news/Financial-market-website-Zero-Hedge-knocked-off-Twitter-over-coronavirus-story-29929803/?countview=0

Markets in mainland China plunge 8% after layoff; losses extend across Asia

Markets in mainland China plunged early Monday, on their first day of trading since an extended Lunar New Year holiday that coincided with the rapid spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
Global markets have fallen in recent weeks and China had braced itself for steep losses, with the People’s Bank of China announcing Sunday it would inject about $173 billion into the economy to cushion the expected blow, along with other measures to stabilize the economy.
The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -8.10%   plummeted more than 8% and the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, -8.63%   sank nearly 9%. Mainland Chinese equity markets had been closed since Jan. 24.
Losses extended across Asia, with Japan’s Nikkei NIK, -1.03%  , Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.06%   and South Korea’s Kospi 180721, -0.84%   all falling, along with benchmark indexes in Taiwan Y9999, -2.28%  , Singapore STI, -0.65%  and Australia XJO, -1.53%  .
“With regards to the PBoC cash injection, of course, many pundits will say that it’s inadequate, they could be right, again I’m not sure,” Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at AxiCorp, wrote in a note Sunday. “But if the market continues to sell off despite the PBoC layering a salve of tiger balm on the market 170 billion USD thick, I’m sure of one thing at least, the markets are going to have a bad day.”
“It’s not the earthquake at the open but rather the aftershocks that will drive risk sentiment on Monday,” Innes wrote. “Honestly, I have no idea where the market is going to end up this week, but I think market conditions will get worse before improving.”

The Philippines reported Sunday the first coronavirus death outside China, as China raised its death toll to 361. More than 17,200 cases have been diagnosed worldwide, all but about 150 in China.
Investors worry the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak could negate the economic rebound that had been expected in China this year, and spur another global selloff.
“The near-term economic impact appears substantial. In addition to disruptions to production, avoidance of face-to-face contact may have resulted in a sharp fall in service activity,” Standard Chartered economists wrote in a Friday note.
U.S. stock futures inched up Sunday, with Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YM00, +0.71%   , S&P 500 futures ES00, +0.70%   and Nasdaq futures NQ00, +0.78%   up about 0.6% each, indicating slight gains when trading starts Monday morning.
Wall Street tumbled Friday, with the Dow and S&P 500 index recording their biggest one-day falls since August amid fears that Chinese epidemic would slow economic growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -2.09%   shed 603.41 points, or 2.1%, to settle at 28,256.03. The S&P 500 SPX, -1.77%   lost 58.14 points, or 1.8%, ending at 3,225.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -1.59%   retreated 148 points, or 1.6%, closing at 9,150.94.
On Sunday, benchmark crude oil CLH20, -0.08%  slipped to $51.35 a barrel. Brent crude oil BRNH20, +0.05%   , the international standard, was about flat at $58.19.
Gold for April delivery GCJ20, -0.01%   on Comex inched up to $1,588.90 an ounce.
The dollar USDJPY, +0.21%   rose to 108.49 Japanese yen.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/markets-in-mainland-china-plunge-9-after-layoff-losses-extend-across-asia-2020-02-02?siteid=rss&rss=1

U.S. universities set up front-line defenses to keep coronavirus at bay

On its sprawling campus in America’s heartland, thousands of miles from China, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has taken aggressive steps to keep the fast-spreading coronavirus away from its classrooms and students.
The school, with one of the highest percentages of Chinese students among U.S. universities, has suspended academic programs in China for the spring semester and banned students from traveling to the country for academic-related matters. It has advised faculty and staff to follow federal travel advisories that, as of Friday, warned against going to China.
“We want to take all of the precautions we can so, in the worst-case scenario, we keep our community healthy,” said Robin Kaler, associate chancellor for public affairs at the University of Illinois, 135 miles (217 km) south of Chicago, where the first human-to-human transmission of the disease in the United States was confirmed last week.
More than 350,000 Chinese students are pursuing higher education in the United States and 10,000 American students are enrolled in academic programs in China.
The sheer number of the students, many of whom have traveled to their home country in recent weeks, makes schools a potential incubator for a widespread outbreak in the United States, given the close proximity of dormitory life.
“Colleges and universities are very much on the front line of those because of our role as global institutions,” Sarah Van Orman, chief health officer at the University of Southern California (USC) said. “The challenge is making sure that we are being prudent without overstating the risk.”

In dealing with the new outbreak, officials at U.S. colleges and universities can draw from their experiences with previous public health scares, including the 2003 outbreak of the SARS coronavirus.

A ‘DELICATE BALANCE’

At University of Illinois, with some 5,800 Chinese students, Kaler sees a challenge in keeping the campus free of the new coronavirus without infringing on rights or fanning xenophobia.
There is a need to strike a “delicate balance” between public safety and personal freedom when dealing with a growing public health issue, Kaler said.
Even so, officials would prefer to err on the side of caution. “If they want to come and fuss at us later, we would rather have them be alive to be able to come fuss at us than not,” she said.
USC, where 6,600 students from China attend college, has taken similar steps in banning students from traveling to China and strongly advising against faculty making the trip.

Officials at the school have encouraged concerned students from Wuhan, the outbreak’s epicenter in central China, to talk with school counselors about their concerns for loved ones back home, while trying not to stigmatize Chinese students on campus.
While the new coronavirus has spread to more than 20 countries, all of the nearly 260 deaths as of Saturday have occurred in China, with the vast majority of the thousands of cases recorded in and around Wuhan, capital of Hubei province.
“There’s an unfortunate history about many communicable diseases that have started in one population,” said Van Orman, whose school has a total student population of 48,800. “It leads to harm for those individuals and does nothing to stop the spread of the illness.”
New York University (NYU), where more than 7,000 Chinese students go to college, has pushed back the start of its spring semester at NYU Shanghai by two weeks to Feb. 17.
The 60,000-student school has also made available online course work and alternative programs abroad to students affected by the postponement and travel restrictions.
The university’s health center staff “are being particularly vigilant about getting travel and contact histories as they evaluate students who present with respiratory ailments and complaints,” said NYU spokesman John Beckman.
University of Illinois officials contacted each of its 150 students from Wuhan and asked them to take the necessary precautions and, if they were feeling ill, to immediately seek medical attention.

Many students who went home to Wuhan recently responded to the school and said they were self-quarantining. The dean of students is helping those students work with their professors in order for them to continue their studies while at home.
“The students obviously are very concerned themselves,” Kaler said. “We have found our students very responsible and receptive when we have asked them to take precautions.”
The sight of many Asian students wearing masks as a preventative measure when they are on campus may lead to stereotyping and discrimination, according to Kaler.
“We try to be sensitive to that sort of thing because we don’t ever want any of our students to feel singled out or unwelcome simply because of where they come from,” she said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-usa-education/u-s-universities-set-up-front-line-defenses-to-keep-coronavirus-at-bay-idUSKBN1ZW0FD