Markets mixed as concerns grow over China coronavirus

Markets were mixed on Friday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.9 percent but the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.9 percent and the Nikkei 225 rose 0.1 percent.

There were some positive economic data on Friday, for example, the IHS Markit US composite PMI hitting a 10-month high of 53.1 in January.

However, the spread of the coronavirus in China and to other countries continued to weigh on markets, with the former confirming 830 cases of infection and 26 deaths as of Friday.

Edward Moya, senior market analyst at brokerage Oanda, said that “concerns are growing that the travel bans in place will start to have a major impact on the economy”.

However, Venkateswaran Lavanya, an economist at Mizuho Bank, suggested that “panic is premature as evolving impact of the coronavirus remains to be seen”.