Analysts at ANZ bank noted that it has been risk-off prevailing overnight on concerns about coronavirus, which has claimed 17 lives, with more than 600 confirmed cases in China, and confirmed cases in a range of other countries.

Key notes

"Efforts are being made to contain the virus and its devastating impact (with fears that it could be like SARS in 2003). The outbreak will have directly hit tourism, retail and related sectors in China, with risks to industrial production."

"US trade developments added to the risk-off tone, while it was a quiet day for data (with markets awaiting PMI data for the US, UK and euro area)."

"The US 10-year yield was 4.7bps lower at 1.722%. Bund yields were 4.8bps lower at 30.8 bps. The S&P 500 fell 0.3%; DAX and FTSE were down 0.9%. WTI fell 3.1% to USD55.0/bbl on virus-related demand concerns. Gold was up 0.6%."