According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), 29 of 42 Apple stores in China are re-opening but most of these locations are still operating on shortened hours.
Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook told employees last week that retail locations in China were “starting to reopen, but we are experiencing a slower return to normal conditions than we had anticipated.”
“Apple’s retail footprint in China is critical to the company’s sales. The store closures were one of two main reasons for Apple saying it would not meet its revenue target of at least US$63 billion in the current quarter ending in March”, per SCMP.
Market implications
The positive news failed to lift the sentiment around the Asian stocks, as the reports of the coronavirus spread globally remains a weight. The risk sentiment, however, is seen stabilizing so far this Tuesday, helped by a bounce in the US equity futures and Treasury yields.
USD/JPY is off the highs and trades around 110.80 amid over a 3% drop in the Japanese equities.
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese Health Ministry reported that all 16 confirmed cases of coronavirus cured, adding that no new cases are found since Feb. 13th.
Thailand reported two New coronavirus cases, bringing the count to 37 on Tuesday.
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