SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The yen was set for its worst week in two-and-a-half years on Friday, as fears over the creeping spread of the coronavirus epidemic drove funds out of Asia and looking for safety in the U.S. dollar, gold and bonds.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares were under water on Friday as fears over the creeping spread of the coronavirus sent funds fleeing to the sheltered shores of U.S. assets, lifting the dollar to three-year highs.

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- On the face of it, it makes very little sense. As the Covid-19 coronavirus has spread this year, prices for the key raw material used in latex medical gloves have been plummeting. 

The Tokyo RSS RSS 2007 contract opened at 183.8 yen, up 0.9 yen from the previous trading day. The RSS2008 contract opened at 159.5 yen, unchanged from the previous trading day. The dollar-yen exchange rate was around 109.833 in the morning.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose nearly 1% on Thursday, extending big gains from a day earlier, as the market worried about crude supply disruptions and demand concerns were cushioned after a sharp drop in new coronavirus cases at the epicenter of the outbreak.

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Japanese yen traded near a nine-month low versus the dollar on Thursday as risk appetite improved on expectations that China will continue to take steps to offset the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.