Markets mixed as China virus death toll rises

Markets were mixed on Tuesday.

The Nikkei 225 fell 0.9 percent but the S&P 500 rose 1.0 percent and the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.8 percent.

While Chinese authorities on Tuesday said deaths from the coronavirus epidemic rose to at least 106 and the number of confirmed cases in China rose to more than 4,500, some analysts think the impact on markets may be limited.

JP Morgan chief of global research Joyce Chang said that “the Chinese government has taken serious actions much faster this time” compared to the SARS outbreak in 2003 and “the mortality rate of the current coronavirus outbreak is 2-3% compared to +10% for SARS”.