Markets dragged down as COVID-19 continues to spread

Markets were mostly lower on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent and the Nikkei 225 fell 0.8 percent. The STOXX Europe 600 ended flat.

The COVID-19 outbreak dominated concerns on Wednesday as cases continued to rise outside of China.

“We’ll see a second drop in the equity markets once the number of infected in these countries with single-digit infections start bumping up after the incubation period of 14 days,” wrote Dec Mullarkey, a managing director of investment strategy at SLC Management, in a note.

“Investors have largely been caught off-guard by the serious and far-reaching economic consequence of the coronavirus,” said Nigel Green, founder and chief executive of the deVere Group, a financial services and advisory company.