Asian stocks traded sharply lower on Thursday after US President Donald Trump suspended all travel to the US from mainland Europe in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

It followed steep losses on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones plunging by almost 1,500 points, or 5.8%.

The Dow is now more than 20% below its recent high, a threshold that often accompanies a recession, reports BBC.

Earlier the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic.