SEOUL/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Fears grew on Monday that the coronavirus outbreak in
China will grow into a pandemic with disruptive and deadly consequences for countries around the world, after sharp rises in infections in South Korea,
Italy and Iran.
A surge of infections in
South Korea and Italy, and an alarming rise in the death toll in
Iran over the weekend, triggered steep falls in Asian share markets and Wall Street stock futures on Monday as investors fled to safe havens such as gold.
"The news flow from the weekend has changed the game somewhat, where the focus is much more on the threat of an outbreak outside of China," said Chris Weston, head of research at broker Pepperstone.