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| - Tokyo stocks suffered further losses Tuesday on fears over the widening coronavirus outbreak in China that has killed more than 100 and fanned fears about the global economic impact. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.55 percent, or 127.80 points, to 23,215.71 -- extending Monday's more than two percent drop -- while the broader Topix index was down 0.60 percent, or 10.29 points, at 1,692.28. "Drops in the US market by a large margin, on concerns over the spread of the new virus... accelerated risk-off sentiment, weighing on the Japanese market today again," Yutaka Masushima, market analyst at Monex, said in a commentary. The virus, which can cause a pneumonia-like acute respiratory infection, has in a matter of weeks killed 106 people and infected more than 4,500 in China, while cases have been identified in more than a dozen other countries. The virus has caused global concern because of its similarity to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003 and was also traced to the trade in wild animals. Panicked investors in the global market fled risky assets for safer bets such as gold, bonds and the yen, after China warned that the virus was spreading fast. The dollar fetched 109.03 yen in Asian afternoon trade against 108.88 yen in New York late Monday. In Tokyo, Japan Airlines continued its slide, falling 0.38 percent to 3,122 yen, but ANA Holdings gained 0.34 percent to 3,453 yen following a sharp decline the previous day. Exporters were mixed, with Sony dropping 1.16 percent to 7,773 yen and Toyota down 0.06 percent at 7,747 yen. But Nintendo gained 0.47 percent to 42,600 yen and Nissan rose 0.25 percent to 599.2 yen. si/sah/dan
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