At least four people are thought to have died of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China.
The illness is being compared to the SARS virus, which killed hundreds of people in Asia in the early 2000s.
After heavy falls in stocks in Shanghai and Hong Kong yesterday, Wall Street fell about 0.3%.
ASX futures were down 2 points.
Gold was steady at US$1558.20 an ounce, while palladium added another 0.6% to a new record high of $2239/oz.
Nickel dropped 2.6% in London to $13,584 per tonne, a 2020 low, while copper fell 1.7% to a two-week low of $6128.50/t.
"Most metals made the session lows in the London AM, with heavy turnover noted," Marex Spectron's Dee Perera said.
"On the wires from the World Economic Forum in Davos which began today, Trump commented that the second phase of US-China trade deal is to begin soon and the relationship with China has never been better."
The MySteel 62% Australian iron ore fines price rose 0.5% to $96/t ahead of the start of Chinese New Year on Friday.
| LME Indicative | Current Price ($US) | Change ($US) | Change % | Previous | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper - Cash |  |
6128.5 | -104.75 | -1.68 | 6233.25 |
| Copper - 3Mth | |
6160 | -99 | -1.58 | 6259 |
| Lead - Cash |  |
1958 | 5 | 0.26 | 1953 |
| Lead - 3Mth |  |
1961 | 0 | 0 | 1961 |
| Zinc - Cash | |
2478.25 | 12 | 0.49 | 2466.25 |
| Zinc - 3Mth | |
2454.5 | 10.5 | 0.43 | 2444 |
| Nickel - Cash | |
13584 | -356.5 | -2.56 | 13940.5 |
| Nickel - 3Mth | |
13665 | -355 | -2.53 | 14020 |
| Tin - Cash | |
17525 | -281 | -1.58 | 17806 |
| Tin - 3Mth | |
17575 | -275 | -1.54 | 17850 |
| Aluminium - Cash | |
1814.5 | 9 | 0.5 | 1805.5 |
| Aluminium - 3Mth | |
1824.5 | 12.5 | 0.69 | 1812 |
| Comex | Current Price ($US) | Change ($US) | Change % | Previous | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold - Feb 20 | |
1558.2 | -2.1 | -0.13 | 1560.3 |
| Silver - Mar 20 | |
17.79 | -0.28 | -1.57 | 18.07 |
| Copper - Mar 20 | |
279.25 | -5.3 | -1.86 | 284.55 |
| Nymex | Current Price ($US) | Change ($US) | Change % | Previous | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platinum - Jan 20 | |
1002 | -17.4 | -1.71 | 1019.4 |
| Palladium - Mar 20 | |
2239 | 14.1 | 0.63 | 2224.9 |
| MySteel Iron Ore | Current Price ($US) | Change ($US) | Change % | Previous | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62% Fines CFR | |
96 | 0.5 | 0.52 | 95.5 |
| 58% Fines CFR | |
83 | 0 | 0 | 83 |
| Energy | Current Price ($US) | Change ($US) | Change % | Previous | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WTI | |
58.34 | -0.2 | -0.34 | 58.54 |
| U308 Spot | |
24.6 | 0.05 | 0.2 | 24.55 |
| Currencies | Current Price ($US) | Change ($US) | Change % | Previous | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $A/$US | |
0.68 | 0 | -0.39 | 0.69 |
| STG / $US | |
1.3 | 0 | 0.24 | 1.3 |
| Euro / $US | |
1.11 | 0 | -0.12 | 1.11 |
| Euro / $A | |
1.62 | 0 | -0.27 | 1.61 |
| Indices | Current Price ($US) | Change ($US) | Change % | Previous | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones | |
29196.04 | -152.06 | -0.52 | 29348.1 |
| NASDAQ | |
9370.81 | -18.14 | -0.19 | 9388.94 |
| S&P 500 | |
3320.79 | -8.83 | -0.27 | 3329.62 |
| FTSE 100 | |
7610.7 | -40.74 | -0.53 | 7651.44 |
| Nikkei 225 | |
23864.56 | -218.95 | -0.91 | 24083.51 |
