Asian stocks plunge after fall in oil prices

Asian stock markets plunged Monday after oil prices nosedived on worries a global economy weakened by a virus outbreak might be awash in too much crude.

Tokyo's benchmark tumbled 6.2%, while Sydney fell 6.1%. Seoul sank 4.4% and Hong Kong lost 3.9%. Shares also sank in Middle East trading on Sunday.

Saudi Arabia, Russia and other oil producers are arguing over how much to cut output to prop up prices.

Markets already were troubled by the potential impact of the virus outbreak that began in China and has disrupted travel and trade.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell to 19,473.07 after the government reported the economy contracted 7.1% in the October-December quarter, worse than the original estimate of a 6.3% decline in annual growth. That was before the viral outbreak slammed tourism and travel but after a sales tax hike dented consumers' appetite for spending.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank to 25,134.73. The Shanghai Composite Index was off 2.2% at 2,967.31.The S&P-ASX 200 in Sydney fell to 5,840.70. The Kospi in Seoul declined to 1,950.02.

The number of infections from the virus that causes COVID-19 has topped 100,000 worldwide.

Already last week, global stocks were sinking as the spread of the coronavirus prompted governments to follow China's lead by imposing travel controls and canceling public events.

The US Federal Reserve's emergency 0.5% cut in its key lending rate failed to reverse the downturn.

“Global recession risks have risen,” said Moody's Investors Service in a report. “A sustained pullback in consumption, coupled with extended closures of businesses, would hurt earnings, drive layoffs and weigh on sentiment.”

On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 fell 1.7% on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1% and the Nasdaq composite, which has a large share of technology companies, fell 1.9%.