Australian Market

The Australian share market closed 0.2% lower, dragged down by disappointing company earnings.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index finished at 7113.7 despite mining giant BHP’s 0.8% jump on a big rise in half-year net profit and increased interim dividend.

Cochlear and Ansell were among the top 100 companies marked down by investors on earnings, falling 3.4% and 2.9%, respectively. The largest decliner was Altium after
Monday’s post-market statement that the coronavirus is one of the reasons it will hit the lower end of full-year guidance. The printed circuit board software company slid 7.9% to A$39.26 from Monday’s A$42.63 record close.

US Market

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell intraday after Apple warned that its revenue may be lower than forecast due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, one of the most
significant indications yet of the impact on multinational businesses.

The Dow dropped 156 points, or 0.5%, and the S&P 500 slid 0.2%. After spending most of the day trading in negative territory, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite turned positive in the afternoon, gaining 0.1%.  

Shares of Apple declined 1.7% after the technology giant said revenue this quarter won’t reach its targeted range of $63 billion to $67 billion as the virus has limited
iPhone production and curtailed demand in China.  

Commodities

Gold prices climbed to their highest levels since 2013, as continued worries over the COVID-19 epidemic in China put pressure on stocks and sparked demand for assets perceived as havens, including gold and Treasurys.

Gold for April delivery on Comex rose $17.20, or 1.1%, to settle at $1,603.60 an ounce after tapping a high at $1,608.20.

Oil Futures

Oil prices were little changed, with U.S. crude futures erasing an earlier slide to close unchanged at $52.05 a barrel.

Brent crude inched up 0.1% to $57.75 a barrel. Most-active copper futures inched up 0.2% to $2.6040 a pound but like oil futures are still well below their early year peaks.

Forex

The dollar intraday was broadly outperforming other currencies as U.S. investors digest news and data after the three-day weekend, including an announcement from Apple that first quarter sales would miss forecasts because of the coronavirus.

The Russian ruble has declined to 63.65 against the dollar as oil prices fall and the South Korean won dipped to 1189.48 as concerns rise about the effects of the epidemic on the global economy. The Australian dollar was around 0.30% lower, trading at 0.6695.  The WSJ Dollar Index was recently up 0.25% at 91.91.

European Markets

European stocks dropped after a revenue warning from Apple sparked fresh fears about the coronavirus outbreaks’s effect on business.  The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.4%, the FTSE 100 was down 0.7%, the CAC-40 retreated 0.5% and the DAX backtracked 0.7%.

Asian Markets

In Asia, most major markets closed down, with the Hang Seng Index declining. Japanese stocks closed lower, with electronics stocks falling sharply, as the coronavirus outbreak continues to disrupt business activity. The Nikkei Stock Average ended 1.4% lower at 23193.80.

South Korean stocks finished lower for a second consecutive session, led by declines in tech companies. The benchmark Kospi lost 1.5% to 2208.88. And Indian shares ended lower as the benchmark Sensex declined for a fourth session, slipping 0.4% to close at 40894.38.