Australian Market

The Australian S&P/ASX 200 fell 93.9 points, or 1.34%, to 6,923. Among issues losing ground, a2 Milk fell 2.41% to $14.16 while Adelaide Brighton fell 3.85%.

US Market

The Dow industrials and S&P 500 rebounded intraday, but oil prices and Chinese stocks slid on fears of the widening coronavirus outbreak.
U.S. crude prices fell into what is generally considered a bear market on worries that the outbreak will reduce Chinese energy consumption. West Texas Intermediate crude-oil futures fell 2.8% to $50.11 a barrel, a drop of more than 20% from the Jan. 6 level of $63.27.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 158 points, or 0.6%, in afternoon trading, reversing course from a sharp selloff last week. The S&P 500 gained 0.8%, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.3%.

With stocks’ bounce, the S&P 500 is back in positive territory for the year. A big drop Friday – the worst day for the broad-based index since August-had briefly wiped out its year-to-date gains for 2020.

Commodities

Gold futures posted their first loss in four sessions, with haven demand for the metal taking a hit as U.S. equities partially bounced back from a coronavirus-triggered selloff, and the U.S. dollar and government bond yields rose.

A rise in the U.S. dollar, gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index as gold futures settled, as well as a climb in rates for the 10-year Treasury note yield to as high as $1.574 helped to weigh on bullion prices, which tend to weaken when the buck strengthens and stocks rally.

Oil Futures

Oil prices slid on fears of the widening coronavirus outbreak.  Crude-oil benchmarks fell into what is generally considered a bear market on worries that the outbreak will reduce Chinese energy consumption. West Texas Intermediate crude-oil futures, the U.S. benchmark, fell 2.8% to $50.11 a barrel, a drop of more than 20% from the Jan. 6 level of $63.27.

Forex

The WSJ Dollar Index was recently up 0.4% at 90.93.  The dollar has strengthened following month-end selling on Friday. The euro is down
0.4% against the U.S. currency after gaining 0.6% Friday while the British pound is down 1.4% after Friday’s 0.9% gain.

European Markets

European stocks were broadly in positive territory as traders bought into the market following a Chinese move to limit coronavirus’s potential effect on the country’s economy.
The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.2%, the CAC-40 was up 0.5% and the DAX advanced 0.5%.

Asian Markets

Chinese stocks tumbled as investors got their first chance in more than a week to react to the coronavirus that is gripping the country, but action was muted in other markets that had already priced in some emerging risks.

In Asian trading, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed 7.7% lower, with many stocks dropping by the maximum 10% that is allowed, including airlines and brokerages. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index reversed earlier losses to gain 0.2% and India’s
S&P BSE Sensex index rose by a similar amount.

South Korean stocks ended nearly flat, as the coronavirus outbreak continued to weigh on sentiment, while some large-cap tech shares rebounded on bargain hunting. The benchmark Kospi ended down 0.13 point, or 0.01%, at 2118.88.

India’s benchmark Sensex closed 0.3% higher at 39872.31, mainly driven by consumer stocks after the Indian government on Saturday proposed to cut personal income tax rates to encourage spending by the middle class.