Stocks rally to records, safe-havens rise on coronavirus concerns

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.24%, and emerging market stocks lost 0.46%. In Europe, automakers, among the most exposed to China, fell 0.8%. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 174.31 points, or 0.6%, to 29,276.82. The S&P 500 gained 24.38 points, or 0.73%, to 3,352.09 and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 107.88 points, or 1.13%, to 9,628.39.

NEW YORK: Gold rose and the dollar hit a four-month high against the euro on Monday on safe-haven appeal as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak passed that of the SARS epidemic two decades ago, but Wall Street rallied to record highs.

Worries about the coronavirus kept investors on edge, as the World Health Organization warned transmission of the deadly virus among people who have not visited China could be "the spark that becomes a bigger fire."