INVESTORS have been bracing for impact as they headed into 2020 with the protracting United States and China trade war in mind, coupled with the early signs of the coronavirus (Covid-19).
But the avalanche in stock markets globally in the first quarter of the year itself was clearly an event that had far surpassed the worst they had expected.
Negative sentiment clouded markets in January and February as Covid-19 began worsening into a pandemic.
Then came March, which saw the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia triggering crashes in global stock markets, which was then quickly amplified by many countries restricting movements and imposing lockdowns, including Malaysia with its movement control order (MCO), to curb the spread of Covid-19.
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