Asian shares extend losses on worries about spread of virus

Asian shares retreated on Tuesday, extending losses on growing worries over a new, potentially more infectious strain of the coronavirus.

Asian shares

• Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.5% to 26,595.52.
• In Hong Kong the Hang Seng edged 0.2% lower to 26,262.02. South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.6% to 2,760.93.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.7% to 6,626.70.
• The Shanghai Composite index shed 0.4% to 3,406.30.

Oil Prices

• Benchmark U.S. crude oil lost 27 cents to $47.70 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
• It gave up $1.27 on Monday to $47.97 per barrel.
• Brent crude, the international standard, slipped 23 cents to $50.68 per barrel.

• The dollar rose to 103.41 Japanese yen from 103.31 yen on Monday.
• The euro fell to $1.2232 from $1.2243.