International equity markets ended a two-week win streak after a Friday selloff saw major benchmarks end the week lower. In the US, the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ all ended the week down more than 1%.

The pickup in volatility saw interest rates fall with the US 30-year government bond yield hitting a record low, trading below 1.95%.

What’s happening in markets

The coronavirus continued to dominate the news with the death toll nearing 2,500 and more than 75,000 infected. Furthermore, worries that the virus is spreading outside of Mainland China came when South Korean local media reported the country’s first coronavirus death leading to the government putting the country on “red alert.” Meanwhile, in Italy, the government said the number of cases spiked from three to 132 in a matter of days.

On Wednesday, minutes from the 29 January Federal Reserve meeting showed officials had already expressed concerns about the social and economic impact of the virus, saying it poses a risk to market volatility and the global growth picture.

“Late in the period, equity prices retraced some of their gains, as concerns about the spread of the coronavirus weighed negatively on risk sentiment… the threat of the coronavirus, in addition to its human toll, had emerged as a new risk to the global growth outlook, which participants agreed warranted close watching,” – FOMC minutes

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