Retailers including Amazon, Apple and Walmart are set to see a hit to revenues as they shutter operations in China while the coronavirus wipes $420 billion (£320 billion) from its economy.
As the number of infections from the deadly coronavirus top 11,000, meaning more people have been infected within a month than they were by SARS in nine months, companies from across the globe with significant operations in the region have scrambled to shut their shops and factories to contain the spread.
Commerce within much of China has already been largely stopped in its tracks since the virus was first reported leading traders to offload shares in companies who have large exposure to China and sell the yuan.
This saw $420 billion (£320 billion) wiped from its benchmark stock index today on the first day of trading since the Chinese Lunar New Year.
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Apple announced last week that it would close all of its corporate offices, stores and contact centers in mainland China until at least February 9, leading analysts to predict around 1 million iPhone sales to be delayed.
A slew of companies including Walmart, Amazon, Disney, Tesla, Microsoft, Google, McDonalds and Starbucks have all made similar moves to prevent any travel for employees to and from China and shut operations temporarily.
The closure of stores and factories have led a number of these companies to warn of a potential impact to profitability in the current quarter, subsequently piling pressure on their stocks.
According to the chief executive of the World Travel and Tourism Council Gloria Guevara the 2003 SARS outbreak cost the global economy between $40 billion (£30 billion) and $60 billion (£45 billion) and cost China 2.8 million jobs.
She added that the economic cost of the outbreak is “not related to the virus” but is “related to the panic”, stating that it can take over a year for tourism and spending to fully recover.
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