(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock index futures slid as concerns over the spread of a SARS-like virus from central China damped demand for equities.
S&P 500 Index futures contracts expiring in March fell as much as 0.5% after multiple medical workers were reported to have been infected. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts were down 0.3% while those on the Nasdaq 100 retreated 0.5%. U.S. markets were closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Asian Tourism, Consumer Stocks Slip Amid Concern of Virus Impact
Asian stocks tumbled as risk-off sentiment roiled markets and spurred a flight to quality across assets. Gold and the yen climbed and China’s yuan weakened by the most in three months.
Worries over the virus come ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, a busy Chinese traveling period, said Laura Fitzsimmons, executive director at JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) & Co.
“When we compare this situation with previous virus outbreaks, the level of Chinese travel now is way, way bigger than what we had before,” she told Bloomberg TV in Sydney. “How much that industry has grown, how many more are traveling now -- it really does make things on a much larger scale.”
READ: Here’s What Market Watchers Are Saying About the Virus Spread