However, if the change in methodology does result in a rise in the growth rate of reported cases, market sentiment will inevitably deteriorate, reversing the more upbeat tone of recent days as markets had become increasingly reassured that the virus will soon plateau
Still, there were glimmers of optimism as the director of the World Health Organization (WHO) told a news briefing that “we are not seeing dramatic increases in cases outside China.”
There are concerns China may be under-reporting the number of coronavirus cases in its country. A senior Trump administration official told CNBC the U.S. does “not have high confidence in the information coming out of China.” The official added China “continues to rebuff American offers of assistance.”
The New York Fed said it would shrink repo operations starting with Friday’s overnight offering. The Fed has been conducting repo offerings and Treasury-bill purchases in a bid to keep control of short-term interest rates and bolster bank reserves. The efforts had calmed markets since a September spike. Treasuries trimmed their gains for the day.
The euro traded near the lowest since 2017, while the U.K. pound gained and gilts retreated after Sajid Javid quit as Chancellor of the Exchequer. The FTSE 100 Index also declined.
Earlier, stock gauges in Japan, Shanghai, Hong Kong and South Korea all declined, though shares in Australia edged higher. Oil climbed even as the International Energy Agency said the coronavirus means global demand will drop this quarter for the first time in over a decade.
Meanwhile, in economic news, January consumer prices rose by a modest 0.1%, but ticked 0.2% higher once the figures were stripped out for food and energy prices. U.S. initial jobless claims for the week ending in Feb. 8 edged up 2,000 to 205,000, underlining the strength of the labor market.
On Capitol Hill, a pair of President Donald Trump’s nominees to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors — Judith Shelton and Christopher Waller — faced scrutiny from the Senate Banking Committee.
Still, the late session sell-off was relatively muted.
The fourth-quarter reporting season is nearing its final approach, with 378 companies in the S&P 500 having posted results. Of those, 71.2% have surprised consensus estimates to the upside, according to Refinitiv data.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.86 billion shares, compared with the 7.64 billion average over the last 20 trading days.
• Cisco Systems Inc. shares CSCO, -5.23% close down more than 5% after it reported second-quarter profit and revenue late Wednesday that came in slightly above Wall Street forecasts.
• PepsiCo Inc. PEP, +0.27% reported a sharp fall in fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that topped expectations, while raising its dividend by 7%.
Tesla Inc. shares TSLA, +4.78% slid after the electric vehicle maker on Thursday said it is planning to offer about $2 billion of common stock in an underwritten deal, but closed nearly 5% higher.
Oil prices erased early losses to settle higher.
Here are some key events coming up:
• China and the U.S. on Friday are scheduled to lower tariffs on billions of dollars of respective imports as part of the trade deal signed last month.
Currencies
• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed at 1,207.10.
• The euro declined 0.3% to $1.0841, the weakest in almost three years.
• The British pound advanced 0.7% to $1.3049, the strongest in almost two weeks on the largest rise in almost two weeks.
• The offshore yuan weakened 0.2% to 6.9885 per dollar.
• The Japanese yen strengthened 0.3% to 109.79 per dollar, the largest rise in almost two weeks.
Bonds
• The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 1.61%.
• The yield on two-year Treasuries fell less than one basis point to 1.44%.
• Germany’s 10-year yield decreased one basis point to -0.39%.
• Britain’s 10-year yield gained four basis points to 0.652%, the highest in more than four weeks.
By: via @AlliesFin Serve T.ME/ALLiESFiN
