On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell for the seventh straight day yesterday, on growing fears that the fast-spreading coronavirus could push the economy into recession.

The Nasdaq managed to eke out a marginal gain after plunging as much as 3.5 percent during the session. After falling as much as 4.2 percent – more than 1,000 points during the day – the Dow ended the session 1.4 percent lower.

Equities found some support after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the fundamentals of the American economy remained strong and that the central bank would act as appropriate to provide support.

But investors had spent most of the day dumping equities for the safety of US Treasuries, pushing 10-year yields to their fourth record low this week. 

The virus spread further yesterday, with cases reported for the first time in at least six countries across four continents, battering markets and leading the World Health Organization to raise its impact risk to 'very high'.

So the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 357 points, or 1.4 percent, to end at 25,409. The S&P 500 lost 25 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 2,954. But the Nasdaq Composite gained just 1 point, to 8,567.