[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The US stock market turned bearish on news of the first Wuhan pneumonia case in the United States.
On the 21st (local time) in the New York stock market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 29,196.24, down 151.86 points (0.52%) from the previous trading day, the S&P 500 index fell 8.95 points (0.27%) to 3,320.67, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index dropped 7.11 points (0.08%) to 9,166.63.
The three major indices had continued to hit all-time highs until last week, but they could not avoid weakness in trading held after the Martin Luther King Day holiday.
Although selling pressure appeared from the beginning of the session, the news of the first Wuhan pneumonia patient in the US cooled investor sentiment, leading to a larger decline in the afternoon.
On this day, US health authorities announced that a man in his 30s who had visited Wuhan, China, was confirmed to have Wuhan pneumonia. Market participants expressed concerns that the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak, which started in Asia, spreading rapidly to the US, could accelerate further during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday.
However, there is also an assessment that the Wuhan pneumonia negative factor is not a matter of great concern since it emerged at a time when the market's upward trend was about to break. The interpretation is that the selling pressure appeared merely as an excuse citing Wuhan pneumonia, as the indices had been recording all-time highs day after day.
Among individual stocks, Boeing's stock price notably fell by 5.5%. Boeing's decline widened after news emerged that the 737 Max would be difficult to operate until mid-year.
Netflix, which released earnings after the market close, showed mixed performance in after-hours trading amid evaluations that its earnings forecast fell short of expectations. On the other hand, IBM, which had been struggling but showed improved earnings, rose by over 5% in after-hours trading.
Despite concerns over production disruptions in Libya, international oil prices were weak. On the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), February delivery West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed at $58.34 per barrel, down 0.3% ($0.20) from the previous trading day, and March Brent crude on the London ICE Futures Exchange was trading down 1.12% ($0.73) at $64.47 per barrel.
On the New York Commodity Exchange, February delivery gold closed at $1,557.90 per ounce, down 0.2% ($2.40) from the previous trading day.
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