SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian currencies arrested their slide on Friday as confidence from the World Health Organization in China’s response to a new virus and upbeat data from the world’s second biggest economy tempered worries over a jump in new infections.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Growth in China’s factory activity faltered in January, an official survey showed, as export orders fell and an outbreak of a new virus added to risks facing the world’s second-largest economy.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped on Friday following sharp losses this week, as the World Health Organization (WHO) came out against travel and trade restrictions in declaring a global emergency over the spread of the coronavirus that originated in China last year.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A new coronavirus that has killed 170 people in China and spread to over a dozen other countries has roiled global commodity markets, raising fears of weaker demand and disrupting raw material supply chains in the world’s most populous country.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s economic growth may drop to 5% or even lower due to the coronavirus outbreak, possibly pushing policymakers into introduce more stimulus measures, a government economist said in remarks published on Wednesday.

Prices of industrial commodities, led by copper, brent crude and rubber, declined by up to 9 per cent in less than two weeks because of weak demand caused by an extended New Year holiday in China, which has been hit by coronavirus outbreak.