Coronavirus live updates: Mnuchin says outbreak won’t hurt China trade deal, American Airlines cancels more Hong Kong flights

Business

This is a live blog. Please check back for updates.

All times below are in Eastern time.

Total cases: More than 28,000 as of Thursday morning.
Total deaths: At least 565 worldwide as of Thursday morning

9:23 am Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says coronavirus won’t hamper trade deal

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was pressed by Fox Business Network on Thursday about whether the U.S. expected the coronavirus to hamper the ability of the Chinese to live up to their commitments in President Donald Trump’s “phase one” trade deal. As part of the deal, China agreed to $200 billion in new U.S. purchases through 2021. That total includes more than $75 billion in additional goods and services in 2020.

“Based on our current projections of the virus, we’re not worried about that,” Mnuchin said. “But let me again say we are monitoring the virus carefully. We’ll have a much better idea over the next two weeks. I think we are going to get more comfortable. But based on current information, I don’t expect there will be any issues in them fulfilling their commitments. -Higgins

9:02 am: Yum Brands shares drop as CEO comments on coronavirus hit

Yum Brands, owner of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, warned investors that its 2020 results will likely fall below its long-term outlook, hit in part by the virus outbreak and its potential spread to other Asian markets. China is the largest market for KFC and the second largest for Pizza Hut. “While Yum’s business model is highly diversified such that the impact on our financial performance will not be as significant what many companies will experience, this will certainly be a headwind for 2020,” CEO David Gibbs said. Yum were down 3.1% in early trading Thursday after after Gibbs’ comments -Lucas

8:55 am: Tapestry lowers forecast, citing coronavirus fallout

Kate Spade and Coach owner Tapestry said Thursday that the majority of its shops in mainland China are closed because of the outbreak. Tapestry said it is expecting sales during the second half of this year to be $200 million to $250 million lower due to the closures. It said its profits could be reduced by 35 cents to 45 cents per share. If the outbreak spreads, Tapestry said the financial impact could become worse. “The escalating coronavirus outbreak is now significantly impacting our business in China, resulting in the closure of the majority of our stores on the Mainland,” CEO Jide Zeitlin said. “If the situation further deteriorates, or the outbreak affects demand outside of the country, this impact could be worse.” -Thomas

8:50 am: Toyota hunts for alternative auto parts suppliers

Toyota Motor is looking at alternatives for the production of auto parts made in China because of the coronavirus. The company has halted production at its China plants through Sunday, but may extend the deadline if the situation worsens.

Toyota lifted its annual operating profit forecast by 4.2% because of strong currency rates for the Japanese yen and better-than-expected sales. However, the company has not yet factored in the financial impact of the coronavirus, which it said was hard to gauge. -Miller

8:10 am: Russia reportedly rejects OPEC’s proposal to impose further oil cuts

Russia is thought to be standing in the way of further OPEC-led production cuts, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed cartel delegates. The Saudi-led producer group has been unable to reach a consensus over its response to China’s coronavirus outbreak. It comes after delegates representing OPEC and allies, sometimes referred to as OPEC+, met for three days to debate whether further output cuts would be necessary to offset falling demand for crude. Earlier in the day, an OPEC technical panel recommended a provisional cut of 600,000 barrels per day, Reuters reported, citing two sources. International benchmark Brent crude traded at $55.07 on Thursday, down around 0.4%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate stood at $50.85, around 0.2% higher.

6:30 am: Tesla temporarily closes China stores amid coronavirus fears

6:20 am: Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizers set up coronavirus task force

The organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games have set up a task force in an attempt to counter intensifying fears about the coronavirus outbreak. Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto he will run the newly-created Novel Coronavirus Countermeasures Task Force, Reuters reported. The group held its first meeting on Tuesday, Muto told reporters, and a second briefing could take place as soon as Friday. The Olympic Games are set to take place from July 24 to Aug. 9, with the Paralympic Games scheduled to run from Aug. 25 to Sept. 6.

5:10 am: US urges WHO to ‘engage directly’ with Taiwan, prompting China to hit back

The U.S. pushed for the World Health Organization to “engage directly” with Taiwan in the fight against the coronavirus on Thursday, prompting a swift rebuke from Beijing’s ambassador to the United Nations health agency. Andrew Bremberg, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said it is a “technical imperative that WHO present visible public health data on Taiwan as an affected area and engage directly with Taiwan public health authorities on actions,” Reuters reported. In response, China’s delegation expressed “strong dissatisfaction” that some countries had raised the issue of Taiwan’s participation at WHO. Taiwan is not a member of the WHO due to China’s objections. Beijing considers self-governing Taiwan a wayward province to be brought under its control. Separately, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Joanne Ou, slammed China and the WHO for providing inaccurate information about the number of coronavirus cases in Taiwan. The WHO reported Tuesday that the island had 13 cases, when there were only 10 at that time.

Read CNBC’s coverage from our Asia-Pacific and Europe teams overnight: US and China clash at WHO over Taiwan’s participation, death toll tops 500

— Reuters and CNBC’s Tucker Higgins, Amelia Lucas, Lauren Thomas, Hannah Miller, Saheli Roy Choudhury and Sam Meredith contributed to this report.

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