1) The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted global financial markets, causing significant losses as investors fear the virus will destroy economic growth. 2) Stock markets in Asia, Europe, the US, and Latin America have all plunged in response to the outbreak and imposition of widespread lockdowns. 3) The economic fallout from COVID-19 is expected to persist for many months or years, and analysts warn that further disruptions from containment measures could weaken the global economy further.

1. EAST WEST
UNIVERSITY
Assignment
Topic: Impact of COVID-19 on the International Financial Markets.
.
Course Title: International Financial Management.
Course Code: FIN-524 (Sec-1)
Submitted to:
Dr. Toufic A. Choudhury..
Department of Business Administration
East West University
Prepared By:
Niloy Saha
ID-2018-2-95-019
Program – MBA
Date of Submission: 15th
May 2020
East West University
Department of Business Administration

2. Page 1
Impact of COVID-19 on the International Financial Markets
The spread of the novel corona virus disease COVID-19 has severely impacted the
global financial markets. These are incredibly uncertain times, with countries around the
world suffering the destabilizing effects of the pandemic. No company is immune to the
challenges caused by the health crisis, and there are understandable concerns about the
damage caused to the worldwide economy.
At the start of February 2020, investors were confident that the outbreak would ease,
buoyed by figures suggesting that cases were leveling off. However, as the number of
infections continued to increase, initial optimism began to subside. The World Health
Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, setting financial markets up for
significant losses. Fearing that the virus will destroy economic growth, traders are
opting to sell their shares, and investors have been deterred from buying stocks.
In Asia, where the outbreak was first reported at the end of December 2019, concern
about the spread of the disease has led to the current downward market trend. The
values of the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite index and the Nikkei Stock Average
index have plunged in the wake of the pandemic. Japan’s economy was dealt a further
blow with the news that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be postponed by up to a
year.
COVID-19 has struck fear into the heart of the economy in the United States. The Dow
Jones Industrial Average index has reported some of the biggest single-day gains and
losses of its history, reflecting the highly volatile nature of the financial markets.
The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite index have also battled to stay afloat in
such rough waters. These unprecedented times have led to the U.S. Senate passing a two
trillion U.S. dollar coronavirus aid bill to support the American economy.
In Europe, the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 index suffered its steepest one-day
fall since 1987, and stock exchange indexes in Latin America also dropped dramatically

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as the coronavirus started to spread across the region.
This is no ordinary downturn in the financial markets; the repercussions of the
coronavirus are expected to be felt for many more months, possibly years. Relief plans,
such as the one introduced in the United States, have started to lift financial markets
around the world, but investors remain cautious and look set to wait for the outbreak to
be controlled before once again investing in stocks.
On The Bangladesh.
Being on the dreaded path of the Covid-19 calamity, Bangladesh needs to thoroughly
assess possible economic disruptions following a full-scale attack of the disease in
pandemic form. Apart from micro-economy ventures, it is the readymade garment
(RMG) sector which has lately emerged as the most prominent one in its economy.
Steps are being mulled to help keep the sector afloat. Seeing the largest export-oriented
sector function properly has now become a great challenge to the government and the
apparel sector. The task is delicate due to its labour-intensiveness as well as its link to
the economies of the buyers.
The state of economies of the industrialized world is fairly evident. Few of the global
economic giants have been spared the assault of the pandemic and its impacts. The US
has started giving serious thought to its unemployment problem cropped up overnight --
amid scores of other fallouts from the novel coronavirus attack. While the government
has announced a lot of economic bailout measures, noted experts of the country have
observed that the Covid-19 will linger as a threat to the global economy and financial
markets. "From an economic perspective, the key issue is not just the number of cases
of Covid-19, but the level of disruption to economies from containment measures," said
Ben May, head of Global Macro Research at Oxford Economics, in a report recently. In
his observation he was clearly referring to the lockdowns, and various types of
restrictive measures. He believes, "Widespread Chinese lockdowns in some hotspots --
if taken disproportionately, could induce panic and weaken the global economy even
more."

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Summing up their observations on the economic scenarios in the developed world,
researchers unanimously say the deepening impacts of coronavirus on the world
economy and the accompanying fears have rocked markets globally. It has resulted in
the plunge of stock prices and bond yields. Few sectors in a coronavirus-afflicted
country are now free of the pandemic's impact. They range from those related to social,
everyday life to pastime activities. The latter has already started taking its toll on both
younger and elderly segments.
COVID-19’s impact on banking & capital market institutions
Banks and capital markets institutions have no choice but to remain hyper vigilant and
rewrite the pandemic playbook as circumstances with COVID-19 evolve. While it is
reassuring to see some aggressive fiscal and monetary policy responses around the
world already, clarity on how these actions will stabilize markets and accelerate the path
to normalcy is yet to emerge.
The uncertainty from COVID-19 will remain for the foreseeable future. Banks and
capital markets institutions have no choice but to remain hyper vigilant and rewrite their
business continuity playbooks as circumstances change. While it is reassuring to see
some aggressive fiscal and monetary policy responses around the world already, clarity
on how these actions will stabilize markets and accelerate the path to normalcy is
slowly emerging, and in some cases yet to emerge. However, banks and their customers
can take some comfort that capital ratios were the strongest going into this crisis than at
any time in the last decade.