Stocks Slip as Traders Mull Virus Case Numbers: Markets Wrap - Yahoo Finance

Stocks Slide as Virus Cases Jump; Bonds Advance: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks slumped alongside U.S. equity futures on Thursday as officials in China deployed a revised methodology to diagnose the coronavirus, sending the number of confirmed cases soaring. Treasuries, gold and the yen all advanced.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was on pace for its biggest drop this month, dragged lower by miners and banks. Contracts on the main U.S. equity gauges all slipped a day after the underlying benchmarks hit fresh records, as the jump in infections undercut optimism the spread of the virus was slowing. Gauges in Japan, Shanghai, Hong Kong and South Korea declined, though shares in Australia edged higher.

In company news, Barclays Plc slipped as the bank revealed British regulators are probing Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley’s relationship with financier Jeffrey Epstein. Credit Suisse Group AG fell after reporting a bigger-than-expected pretax loss at its investment bank, while Nestle SA dropped after pushing back its target for sales growth. The euro traded near the lowest since 2017 as the bloc’s executive said the region’s economic malaise is set to continue this year.

Investor sentiment had improved in recent sessions amid speculation the impact from the coronavirus outbreak on global growth would be short-lived. That assumption was thrown into doubt when Hubei, the province at the center of the epidemic, reported almost 15,000 new cases after it revised its data to include “clinically diagnosed” cases in its daily disclosure.

“Just when markets were getting comfortable with the idea that the Covid-19 infection increase was trending lower, the sudden jump in the number of new cases in Hubei has jolted them out of this sense of complacency,” said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.

Elsewhere, oil declined following Wednesday’s surge and as the International Energy Agency said the coronavirus means global demand will drop this quarter for the first time in over a decade. Emerging-market shares and currencies slipped.

Here are some key events coming up:

Earnings season continues with reports still due from the likes of Alibaba and AIG.Thursday brings a gauge of underlying U.S. inflation, the core consumer price index. It is forecast to increase to 0.2% in January, a faster pace than in December.China and the U.S. on Friday are scheduled to lower tariffs on billions of dollars of respective imports as part of the trade deal signed last month.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

Futures on the S&P 500 Index declined 0.7% as of 10:25 a.m. London time.The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.9%.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 0.1%.The MSCI Emerging Market Index dipped 0.2%.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased 0.1%.The euro gained 0.1% to $1.0882.The British pound gained 0.1% to $1.2978.The onshore yuan fell 0.2% to 6.984 per dollar.The Japanese yen gained 0.4% to 109.70 per dollar.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell six basis points to 1.58%.The yield on two-year Treasuries fell four basis points to 1.40%.Germany’s 10-year yield decreased three basis points to -0.41%.Britain’s 10-year yield sank four basis points to 0.576%.Japan’s 10-year yield was unchanged at -0.034%.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 0.7% to $50.79 a barrel.Brent crude declined 1.1% to $55.19 a barrel.Gold advanced 0.6% to $1,575.04 an ounce.

--With assistance from Chester Yung, Cormac Mullen, Livia Yap and Adam Haigh.

To contact the reporter on this story: Yakob Peterseil in London at ypeterseil@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sam Potter at spotter33@bloomberg.net

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