Hong Kong, Feb 20 (AFP/APP): Coronavirus fears weighed on Asian markets Thursday despite China reporting a big drop in new cases and easing borrowing costs to cushion the epidemic’s economic impact. Traders have been betting on central banks, particularly China’s, doing what it takes to keep their economies chugging along as the new coronavirus hits corporate earnings and economic growth. In a widely anticipated move, the People’s Bank of China lowered its one-year and five-year loan prime rates as policymakers seek to reduce the impact of the virus-fuelled slowdown on companies and households. But the moves were “not nearly enough”, said Stephen Innes of AxiCorp. “The PBoC needs to exceed the market expectations, not hit them in this environment,” he said. “If the PBoC made a bigger splash, the market would have reacted more favourably.” Sentiment had improved in recent days amid growing hopes that the impact of the virus — which has killed more than 2,100 people and infected over 74,000, mostly in China — will be short-lived. China reported a big drop in new cases on Thursday, fuelling hopes the epidemic is nearing its peak. Overnight gains on Wall Street and in Europe flowed into Asia at the … Continue reading Virus fears weigh on Asian markets