Fubotv earnings beat by $0.10, revenue topped estimates
* Markets on edge amid fears of China virus spreading
* Asian stocks, currencies mostly steady after risk-off
shift
* WHO meets Wednesday to consider severity of virus outbreak
* Oil recovers from Libyan supply jitters
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Tom Westbrook
SINGAPORE, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Asian share markets steadied
on Wednesday as investors took stock of the spread of a new
strain of coronavirus from China and weighed the possible
consequences of a global pandemic.
Fears of contagion, particularly as millions travel for
Lunar New Year festivities, knocked stocks from record levels on
Tuesday as investors swapped them for safer assets. The outbreak has revived memories of the Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2002-03, a coronavirus
outbreak that killed nearly 800 people and hurt world travel.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS spent the morning trading either side of flat.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 opened 0.1% lower, before steadying
to trade flat, as did Korea's Kospi index .KS11 . Australia's
S&P/ASX 200 .AXJO inched 0.3% higher, while the safe havens of
gold and U.S. 10-year government bonds handed back some gains.
"After weeks of gains ... the virus has loomed large because
of the market's positioning," said Michael McCarthy, Chief
Market Strategiest at brokerage CMC Markets in Sydney.
"The economic impact at this stage is zero. The pullback
we've seen over the last 24 hours is the reflection of a
potential threat."
The outbreak, from its origin in Wuhan, China, has reached
the United States, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
Authorities have confirmed more than 300 cases of the virus
in China, mostly in Wuhan, where six people have died.
The World Health Organization (WHO) meets later on Wednesday
to consider whether the outbreak is an international emergency.
On Wall Street overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI fell half a percent and the S&P 500 .SPX dropped almost
a third of a percentage point, following larger losses in Asia.
SARS FLASHBACK
In Hong Kong, where the SARS outbreak buffeted the economy,
the main stock index .HSI fell 2.8% on Tuesday, its biggest
one-day decline in over five months. Airline, travel, hotel and
casino stocks were the hardest hit, along with China's yuan
CNY= , which had its worst day since August.
"(This) virus is believed to be less serious than the SARS
outbreak ... but it does belong to the same class of pathogens,"
Jefferies analysts wrote in a note. "The major point is whether
the virus turns from an outbreak to an epidemic."
The theme was the same in other markets. U.S. 10-year
government bond yields, which fell to a two-week low on Tuesday,
rebounded slightly to 1.7848% US10YT=RR . US/
Spot gold XAU= was 0.1% weaker at $1,556.00 per ounce.
In currencies, the safe-haven yen JPY= eased slightly from
the one-week high it touched overnight, although the yuan nursed
its losses. In offshore trade, the Chinese currency barely
budged from the bottom of its Tuesday plunge, last changing
hands at 6.9070 per dollar CNH= .
Oil prices also settled back as traders figured a
well-supplied global market would be able to absorb disruptions
that have cut Libya's crude production to a trickle. O/R
Brent LCOc1 futures settled down 20 cents at $64.59 a
barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 fell 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $58.38 per
barrel.