- U.S. stocks edge down in afternoon trading
- Oil prices gain, up for week
- U.S. dollar index higher
(Updates with oil price settlements)
Major world stock indexes edged lower on Friday as investors further assessed the economic fallout of China's coronavirus outbreak, while oil prices registered their first weekly gain since early January.
Chinese health authorities reported more than 5,000 new cases of coronavirus on Friday.
"Investors are definitely keeping an eye on how much the coronavirus is spreading and where it spreads to. It still remains the biggest risk going forward," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist and senior portfolio manager at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.
A recent Reuters poll showed the world's second-biggest economy will grow at its slowest pace since the financial crisis in the current quarter, but the downturn will be short-lived if the outbreak is contained.
Some investors said they thought the economic impact of the outbreak would not be as deep as feared, with some also noting the spread beyond China has not been as rapid as feared.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed 0.09%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 93.87 points, or 0.32%, to 29,329.44, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.74 points, or 0.05%, to 3,372.2 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 0.71 points, or 0.01%, to 9,711.26.
An upbeat forecast from Nvidia NVDA.O helped to limit some of the losses in equities.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX lost 0.13%. Oil rose and chalked up its first weekly gain since early January, backed by expectations producers will implement deeper output cuts to offset slowing demand in China caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 gained 98 cents to settle at $57.32 a barrel, while U.S. crude CLc1 rose 63 cents to settle at $52.05.
In currency markets, the dollar index .DXY rose 0.06%, with the euro EUR= down 0.02% to $1.0838.
Concerns about growth in the eurozone are expected to keep weighing on the single currency.
U.S. Treasury yields declined as investors bought safe-haven government debt ahead of a long holiday weekend after soft retail sales data and amid the continuing virus concerns in China.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 9/32 in price to yield 1.5883%, from 1.617% late on Thursday.
For Reuters Live Markets blog on European and UK stock markets, please click on:
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Stock performance vs. reported coronavirus cases https://tmsnrt.rs/37rQEUuWorld FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh Graphic on coronavirus https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 Emerging markets in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> ((To read Reuters Markets and Finance news, click onhttps://www.reuters.com/finance/markets For the state of play of Asian stock markets please click on:
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