Hong Kong stocks plunge 5% at open

Hong Kong stocks nosedived at the open on Monday, with investors spooked by the rising worldwide coronavirus death toll and the failure in Congress to agree on a trillion-dollar US emergency economic package.

The Hang Seng Index dropped 5.02 percent, or 1,145.52 points, to 21,659.55 at the open.

Markets around the world have been battered by the coronavirus, which has killed more than 14,000 people and infected hundreds of thousands.

Fears have intensified that a major recession is about to hit the global economy, and governments are unleashing unprecedented stimulus measures to prevent widespread economic collapse.

A trillion-dollar proposal in the US Senate to rescue the reeling American economy crashed on Sunday after it did not receive any support from the minority Democrats and with five Republicans absent because of coronavirus quarantines.

The bill proposed up to $2 trillion in funding for American families, thousands of shuttered or suffering businesses and the nation's critically under-equipped hospitals.