Japan traded lower on Monday as investors appeared to be wary about the fast-spreading coronavirus, which started in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index dumped 483.67 points, or 2%, to 23,343.51.
Markets in mainland Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Korea, Australia and Taiwan were closed for the day.
Travel-related stocks fell: Japan’s biggest airline, ANA, declined 3.% while shares of travel agency H.I.S dropped 6.8%. Shares of Airtech, which manufactures products specializing in clean air system and are used by hospitals, rose 17.1%.
The Japanese yen, which is considered a safe-haven currency, changed hands at 109.06 per dollar, weakening from an earlier level around 108.72.
More than 2,700 people in China have been infected by the deadly pneumonia-like virus that comes from a large family of viruses known as coronaviruses.
Chinese authorities said 461 people are in critical condition while 80 people have died so far from the disease. The scale of the virus outbreak is already affecting the Chinese economy, according to preliminary data.
Internationally, more cases have also been reported in countries like the United States, Singapore, Australia, and South Korea
In other markets
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 subtracted 70.67 points, or 0.6%, to 11,807.14
