US Market closes at record as Coronavirus worries abate

The US equity market continued uptrend on Wednesday, 12 February 2020, with all three major benchmarks registering all-time closing highs, as sentiment continued to build on news that the spread of the coronavirus outbreak in China may be slowing and it may be over by April. At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 275.08 points, or 0.9%, to end at 29,551.42, while the S&P 500 added 21.70 points or 0.65%, to finish at 3,379.45. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 87.02 points, or 0.9%, to 9,725.96.

China's National Health Commission on Wednesday said 2,015 new cases of the disease caused by the new viral infection had been reported over the last 24 hours, declining for a second day. That brought the number of cases in mainland China to 44,653. The commission said there were 97 additional deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the mainland total to 1,113.

Global markets have raced higher in recent sessions as investors bank on the virus's economic impact being a short shock that is largely contained to the Asia-Pacific region, and that central banks stand ready to act in the event of a wider hit.

In a report released overnight, S&P Global said it expects there to be a short-term effect on Chinese and global growth.

CURRENCY NEWS: The US dollar rose against basket of major currencies on Wednesday, as investors expressed confidence that the novel coronavirus outbreak will be contained soon. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.32 per cent at 99.0435 in late trading. The US dollar bought 110.08 Japanese yen, higher than 109.75 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar was up to 0.9783 Swiss franc from 0.9754 Swiss franc. The euro was down to $1.0868 from $1.0920 in the previous session, and the British pound was down to $1.2958 from $1.2961 in the previous session. The Australian dollar rose to $0.6735 from $0.6713.

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