LONDON (Dispatches) -Trading in global financial markets paused for breath on Wednesday afternoon, after days of sharp losses spurred by fears about the coronavirus.
In morning trade in New York, the main U.S. indexes were up about 1%, regaining ground after steep falls on Tuesday.
In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 index and other major bourses had pared their losses and were mostly flat.
Earlier, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong closed 0.8% and 0.7% lower respectively.
The signs of stabilization come despite ongoing warnings from firms of supply chain disruption and slowdown caused by the deadly virus, which has spread to more than 30 countries.
Factory production continues to lag, travel restrictions remain in place and consumers in some countries are staying at home.
The virus is likely to reduce global growth in the first three months of this year by almost 1%, Moody’s Analytics estimates.
However, it warned that if the outbreak was not contained as expected, it could trigger recessions in the U.S. and elsewhere.
"The coronavirus has been a body blow to the Chinese economy, which now threatens to take out the entire global economy,” chief economist Mark Zandi said.
Share markets have faced days of turmoil, with the FTSE 100 hitting a 12-month low on Tuesday and the main US indexes losing more than 3% overnight.
Miner Rio Tinto also lost 1.8% after it warned the disease could hit its operations in the next six months.