Thursday 20 February 2020

Markets rise as COVID-19 outbreak seen ebbing

Markets were mostly higher on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent to end at another record high, the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.8 percent and the Nikkei 225 rose 0.9 percent. However, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3 percent.

Fears over the COVID-19 outbreak took a back seat on Wednesday as Chinese officials said the rate of new cases has begun to ebb.

Still, some remain cautious.

“The global economic outlook remains mired in uncertainty at this point in time, with coronavirus-related warnings emanating out of Apple and corporate America,” said Han Tan, market analyst at FXTM, in a research report.

However, Mark DeCambre at MarketWatch noted that everything is rising, not just stocks. Gold, the US dollar and bond-pegged ETFs have also been rising.

“It’s almost as if investors putting money to work this year can’t lose, and that setup has caused some confusion among strategists, investors and analysts,” he wrote.

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