The Australian stock market opened 2.2% down on Monday morning, marking the seventh straight trading day of losses as the coronavirus spreads.

The S&P/ASX200 index was 144.2 points down at the start of trade on Monday.

The decline means the ASX has now gone down over 10% in the last seven trading days.

The Australian dollar was at its lowest point in a decade on Monday morning, buying 64.69 US cents.

It came after a spike in coronavirus cases in Italy, Iran and South Korea over the weekend, and the first confirmed deaths from the virus in the United States and Australia.

IG market analyst Kyle Rodda said the biggest impact would come from the latest PMI surveys from China.

“The data [shows] business activity in the Chinese economy fell to an all-time low last month.”

Among the biggest drops at the opening of trade were Bega down 10% and Fortescue down 9.92%.

As economic uncertainty grows in Australia, the Reserve Bank of Australia were set to meet on Tuesday ahead of an announcement on interest rates.

Australian National University’s shadow RBA – a group of experts who analyse Reserve Bank policy – has said the official cash rate should remain at 0.75%

“Fears about a global coronavirus pandemic are already taking their toll on world financial markets and are likely to impose significant economic costs on the Australian economy, should the crisis worsen,” RBA shadow board chair Timo Henckel said.

“The fear surrounding this crisis has clearly battered financial markets worldwide although the likely cost to the Australian economy remains highly uncertain,” Henckel said.

A survey of 39 experts and economists by Finder reported that while 90% of the experts predict another rate cut this year, just 15% believe the cut will come on Tuesday.

Last week almost $200bn was wiped from the stockmarket after a week of falls.