The growing concern over the coronavirus hit markets yesterday, with major indices falling more than 2%.

The EURUSD began the week at $1.08121 and dipped to lows of $1.08042 mid-session. After remaining near those levels for a few hours, it climbed to a high of $1.08715 late in the day. It has come off those highs and is now trading at $1.08519. The GBPUSD ended Monday lower after opening the day at $1.29440. The pound edged up to a high of $1.29536 early in the day before falling away to lows of $1.28855 a few hours later. It spent the rest of the session trying to peg back those earlier losses before closing at $1.29787. It is now trading at $1.29196.

Indices were hammered overnight as news broker over the weekend that more outbreaks of the coronavirus are occurring outside China, stoking worries about global trade growth. The Dow bore the brunt of the sell-off, plummeting more than 1,000 points from last Friday’s close. The Dow opened at 28,705.27 (around 280 points lower than Friday’s close) and nudged up to an opening-hour high of 28,767.11. It was all downhill from there as the index tumbled to lows of 27,901.35 late in the day. It has come off those lows and is now trading at 28,119.00. The Dax could not escape the sell-off as it was belted from the outset. The German index opened at a high of 13,422.99 (130 points lower than Friday’s close) and headed south early, before hitting lows of 12,970.68 in the final hour of the session. It has opened slightly higher on Tuesday and is now trading at 13,091.20.

The day ahead is light-on for data, with the coronavirus now taking up most of the attention for markets. Markets will be watching to see if there are any new outbreaks or major developments. This could have further implications for indices as well as gold prices.

Data published today includes:

Europe – German Final GDP

UK – CBI Realised Sales

Canada – Corporate Profits

US – CB Consumer Confidence, Richmond Manufacturing Index, HPI, S&P/CS Composite-20 HPI, FOMC Member Richard Clarida speaks

Disclaimer: The information in this website is of a general nature only and the advice has been prepared without taking account of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Accordingly, before acting on the advice, you should consider the appropriateness of the advice having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. We recommend you seek independent advice if necessary.