US Pres. Trump forms a 12-member Coronavirus Task Force, Asia risk-off in full swing

Amid reports of fresh containment efforts over the China coronavirus outbreak internationally, Reuters cites that the US President Trump has formed a 12-member Coronavirus Tasks Force.

According to the US officials, around 200 in the group, mostly US diplomats and their families have been evacuated from Wuhan and flown into the US aboard a government-chartered plane were medically screened by Chinese government and US officials before boarding the plane in Wuhan.

They have agreed to remain voluntarily in special housing at the military base, cordoned off from base personnel, for 72 hours, the officials added.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian government is planning an evacuation of its citizens from Wuhan at the earliest, adding that the evacuees will be quarantined for at least 14 days.

New Zealand announced to charter a 300-seat aircraft to evacuate nationals from Wuhan, with 53 New Zealanders confirmed in the epicenter.

Singapore’s Foreign Ministry said that it will return 92 Singaporeans from Wuhan, China on a flight on Thursday.

Also, following the comments from the Taiwanese Deputy Finance Minister earlier today, a Taiwan central bank official is now saying that they will continue to keep a close watch on forex market fluctuations.

Market Implications

The 5% slump in the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) is spilling over to its Asian peers, with the Japanese benchmark, the Nikkei 225, down 2% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sheds nearly 2%.

Across the Asia-pac fx space, USD/JPY is tracking the losses in the S&P 500 futures, Asian equities and US Treasury yields and now targets the 108.70 support area. The Aussie is at three-month lows of 0.6731. The Kiwi attacks 0.6500, down 0.25%.