March 31 (Reuters) - Asian stocks fell sharply in March and were on track to post their biggest monthly drop since October 2008 on fears that corporate earnings could be hit due to lockdowns enforced by several nations to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares .MIAP00000PUS has fallen over 12% this month, compared with a decline of about 13% in the MSCI's global share index. .MIWD00000PUS .
More than 777,000 people have been infected by the novel coronavirus across the world and 37,561 have died, since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.
The pandemic has already driven the global economy into recession and countries must respond with "very massive" spending to avoid a cascade of bankruptcies and emerging market debt defaults, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned last week. the first quarter, Asian shares .MIAP00000PUS have plunged over 20% and are set to record the biggest quarterly decline since September 2008. Global shares .MIWD00000PUS , meanwhile, are down about 21%.
Philippines .PSI and Vietnam .VNI shares, with over 30% drop this quarter, have led the quarterly declines in the region.
Central banks around the world have slashed interest rates in the past few weeks to try to help alleviate the threat to markets and the world economy from the pandemic. Asia-Pacific and World indexes' monthly performance https://reut.rs/33XLE9R MSCI Asia and World Indexes' quarterly performance https://reut.rs/2JsHAoI Asia-Pacific equities performance in the current quarter and month https://reut.rs/33V7Gu4 Asia-Pacific equities performance in 2020 https://reut.rs/2WZRm9R