U.S. markets and stock exchange traded funds retreated, Thursday, on renewed coronavirus fears as the spreading contagion fueled concerns of a potentially harder economic fallout in China.
On Thursday, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) was down 0.7%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEArca: DIA) declined 0.5% and SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY) fell 0.7%.
Market fears of a worsening outbreak were heightened on updates that the death toll in China rose to 170 and the coronavirus spread to over 15 countries, Reuters reports.
The severity of the viral outbreak has also pushed the World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee to reassess the contagion and consider whether to declare the virus a global emergency.
“We are still in the fear phase. There is not enough information to know how bad the virus is going to get,” Ed Keon, chief investment strategist at QMA, a multi-asset manager, told Reuters. “You see an initial drop as investors react to fears of things going worse than what is actually happening. Usually things bottom when you get to the worst part.”