Latin American currencies took a beating on Thursday, as investors fretted over the global spread of the coronavirus after cases outside of China rose, with Brazil's real hitting a new low amid rising safe-haven buying of the US dollar.

The number of new infections rose in South Korea, while Japan reported two new deaths and new research suggested the pathogen was more contagious than previously thought, adding to the alarm.

"There is still uncertainty about how long this (outbreak) is going to last and how big the economic effect is going to be, not just on China, but on supply chains around the world," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James.

The dollar was perched at a 10-month high against the Japanese yen after rising nearly 2% since Tuesday, while also upping pressure on Latin American currencies.

Brazil's real weakened 0.4% to 4.3917 against the greenback, touching a fresh record low. Data showed Brazilian inflation slowed in February to its lowest in over a quarter of a century.

A basket of currencies in the region weakened by 0.4%, while MSCI's index for Latin American equities fell 0.5%.

The Chilean peso fell nearly 1% against the dollar, touching levels not seen since early December as prices of copper, the country's biggest export, slipped on rising worries of demand.

Argentine bond prices fell 1.5% after the International Monetary Fund essentially gave the government a green light to restructure its bonds.

Other major currencies in Latin America, including Mexico and Colombia, also eased The central bank of Latin America's biggest economy said it would lower banks' reserve requirements on time deposits to 25% from 31%, starting on March 16, in a move that will free up an estimated 49 billion reais ($11.2 billion) of liquidity.