Share sell-off moderates in Asia after rout on Wall Street
BANGKOK — Shares fell moderately in Asia on Thursday after another torrent of selling on Wall Street sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting more than 600 points, erasing its gains for the year.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index sank sharply on the open but leveled off, regaining some lost ground. By mid-morning it was down 2.9 percent at 21,443.72. The Shanghai Composite index slipped 1.6 percent to 2,561.36 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index skidded 1.8 percent to 24,785.68.
Charts for the entire region were awash with the red that indicates losses, but the declines were mostly in the 2 percent to 3 percent range.
“Coming online with the overtly risk-off backdrop from U.S. markets, investors in the Asian region would be taking the cue to head for the doors,” Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary.
In Hong Kong, airline Cathay Pacific’s shares dropped 6.5 percent after it said it had discovered a data breach affecting 9.4 million passengers.
The S&P 500 lost 3.1 percent to 2,656.10 on Wednesday, and has lost about 9.4 percent from its Sept. 20 peak. The Dow tumbled 2.4 percent to 24,583.42. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 3.8 percent to 1,468.70 and is down 4.4 percent for the year.
Death toll hits 7 in viral outbreak at pediatric center
TRENTON, N.J. — Another young person has died in a viral outbreak at a pediatric rehabilitation center this month, bringing the death toll to seven, officials said Wednesday as they disclosed the first symptoms of the illness showed up a month ago.
Most of those who died in the adenovirus outbreak were under 18, but at least one was a young adult, the state Health Department said. The seventh victim died Tuesday.
There have been 18 cases overall at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Haskell, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of New York, officials said. The 227-bed, for-profit facility has a pediatric unit but also cares for elderly residents.
All the cases occurred in a respiratory, or ventilator unit, New Jersey Health Commissioner Dr. Shereef Elnahal said at a news conference with Gov. Phil Murphy outside the complex.
“Our attention is squarely focused on making sure that further cases are minimized,” Murphy, a Democrat, said.
Health officials said they have staff onsite, and that the outbreak won’t be declared over until the center goes four weeks without the diagnosing of a new case.
The commissioner said the first symptoms showed up Sept. 26, and that the state was notified of an outbreak Oct. 9. Asked about the time lag, he said it’s always hard to know when an actual outbreak begins.
Willa dissipates, but evacuations continue, towns cut off
MAZATLAN, Mexico — Emergency workers and federal troops struggled to reach beach towns left incommunicado by a blow from Hurricane Willa, and the storm continued to force evacuations Wednesday due to fear of flooding even as it dissipated over northern Mexico. Thousands of homes were still without power.
There were no immediate reports of deaths or missing people, but the storm’s 120 mph (195 kph) winds damaged a hospital, knocked out power, toppled wood-shack homes and ripped metal roofing off other houses in the Sinaloa state municipality of Escuinapa when it came ashore Tuesday evening.
Nearly 102,000 homes in Sinaloa lost electricity after the storm made landfall, the head of the state electricity company said on Twitter. Service had been restored to about 62 percent of those.
The state civil defense office said the hospital’s ceiling and some other areas were damaged in Escuinapa.
The worst damage was expected to be in the handful of coastal communities that were cut off by road and without communications. Workers were trying to remove toppled power poles and trees blocking the roads.
South Carolina adds 2nd billionaire with huge jackpot ticket
SIMPSONVILLE, S.C. — The number of billionaires in South Carolina may have doubled overnight — at least before taxes — after a lottery ticket sold in the state won the $1.537 billion Mega Millions lottery jackpot.
The ticket, sold at the KC Mart in Simpsonville, matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night, defying the 1 in 302.5 million odds to win the near-record prize.
The winner would only become an actual billionaire by taking the prize in annual installments over three decades and hanging on to the bulk of the money. The lucky person can also take an $877.8 million lump-sum cash payment, which most winners choose to receive.
South Carolina Education Lottery officials know when and where the winning ticket was bought, but until someone turns the ticket in, they won’t know who bought it. And the public may never find out. South Carolina allows lottery winners to remain anonymous after conducting a thorough investigation to confirm their identity, lottery Chief Operating Officer Tony Cooper said.
