Market heads into Feb with virus outbreak worries

SINGAPORE'S stock market could see more gloom in the first week of February as the Wuhan coronavirus situation escalates.

The Straits Times Index finished last Friday with a 0.5 per cent decline, after a week of sell-offs. On the week, the local benchmark was down 2.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, the US' S&P 500 fell to its lowest since October last Friday, capping off a week that saw Starbucks and Apple warn about the impact on performance from the virus outbreak.