Australian shares fell more than 2% on Monday, their biggest since mid-August 2019, as sharp spikes in coronavirus cases outside mainland China deepened worries about a hit to the global economy.
South Korea put the country on high alert while the number of infections jumped to over 700 and deaths rose to seven. In Italy, a third person infected with the flu-like virus died on Sunday, while the number of cases jumped to above 150 from just three before Friday.
The S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> fell 2.3%, or 160.70 points, to 6.978.30, its lowest close since Feb. 5.
Energy stocks <.AXEJ> dropped 4% to their lowest close since Oct. 10 as oil prices slumped nearly 3%.
Woodside Petroleum <WPL.AX> dropped 6.4% to its lowest close since Oct. 10, while Whitehaven Coal <WHC.AX> shed 5.8%.
However, Viva Energy Group <VEA.AX> rose over 1% after the company said it had approved a two-month maintenance turnaround of key units at its Geelong refinery.
Financial stocks <.AXFJ> dropped 1.7%, with the 'Big Four' banks shedding between 0.9% and 1.5%.
National Australia Bank <NAB.AX> cut some of its losses to close about 1% lower, after the country's third-largest lender said it would increase the amount it was looking to raise from a notes offer.
Healthcare stocks <.AXHJ>, which are often seen as defensive ones, marked their worst session since August 2019. Bio-therapeutics firm CSL Ltd <CSL.AX> declined 3.4%.
Meanwhile, gold stocks provided some respite to the market, with the sectoral sub-index <.AXGD> rising 4.2% to its highest close since Oct. 9 on safe-haven demand. Spot gold prices <XAU=> jumped as much as 2% to their highest in more than seven years.
Newcrest Mining <NCM.AX> gained 5.1%, while St Barbara <SBM.AX> added 4.9%.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> dropped 1.8%, or 216.22 points, to finish the session at 11,857.12.
Shares of Air New Zealand <AIR.NZ> slumped 5.5%, while those of A2 Milk Co <ATM.NZ> slid 5%.
(Reporting by Shreya Mariam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
