Oil prices continued to drop as the US market opened today, to head for the fifth daily loss and dive to a 13-month low, due to lingering fears over the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the global economy, in addition to a rise in US crude inventories according to preliminary data, while the official weekly report will be released later today.

US crude fell to the lowest price since Jan. 8, 2019 at $49.02 a barrel, after opening at $50.08, and hit a high of $50.41.

The US crude lost 2.4% yesterday, to post its fourth daily loss after the US warnings about the spread of the coronavirus.

This came after the rapid coronavirus spread beyond China, especially  in South Korea, Italy and Iran, as the virus death toll in Iran rose to 16 victims, which is the highest after China.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged citizens to prepare for a potential coronavirus outbreak in the US, especially after infections increased in more countries.

Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA, said yesterday that the agency has cut it global oil demand outlook to ten-year low, adding that further cuts are possible due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) revealed yesterday in preliminary data the US crude inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels during the week ending in Feb. 21, lower than forecasts of 2 million barrels, and reached a total of 443.9 million barrels, which is the highest level since Dec. 13.

While the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will release today the official data on inventories and production levels in its weekly report, with forecasts for inventories to rise by 2.3 million barrels, while in the last week's report the production levels held at the all-time record of 13.0 million barrels per day.

The US dollar fell on Wednesday, to deepen losses for the fourth straight day, and hit a 2-week low, as treasury yields slumped, and the market's bets rose for the US Fed to cut interest rates in its June meeting.

The dollar index fell against a basket of major currencies by more than 0.1% to 98.80 points, after it opened at 98.91 and hit an intraday high of 99.02.

The US dollar fell by 0.3% yesterday, its third straight daily loss, due to the release of lower-than-expected US consumer confidence reading for February and a drop in US bond yields.

The US 10-year treasury yields fell today, to a record low of 1.30% which weighs down on the US dollar.

Accordingly, the US interest rate futures are now fully priced for the prospects of the Fed to cut rates at the next June meeting by 25 basis points, which were at only 50% a week ago.

These developments about the expected US interest rate came despite Fed officials avoiding any hints about the monetary policy, as FOMC member Richard Clarida stated on Tuesday that the bank is monitoring the coronavirus situation, but it is still too early to judge if the current policy is appropriate or not.

European stocks fell on Wednesday, to deepen losses for the fifth straight session, hitting a 4-month low, as the sell-off continued after the coronavirus outbreak in most parts of the world escalated fears, especially after the US health centers warned from the virus spread in the country, which led most banks and international companies to issue warnings about their business results during the first quarter of 2020.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index was lower by 1.75% at 10:55 GMT, to hit its lowest level since Oct. 25, after it closed lower by 1.8% yesterday, posting its fourth straight daily loss.

The index opened today's session lower, to deepen it losses for the fifth straight day, hitting a 4-month low, with most of the major European exchanges and sectors falling today.

The travel and leisure sector saw the largest losses in Europe today, as its stocks plunged more than 3.5%, on growing expectations for a drop in the sector's companies due flights and traveling restrictions.

Fears over the coronavirus outbreak continued to cast a shadow on global markets, after news about the virus spread outside China, in countries such as South Korea, Italy and Iran, with new cases emerging in Japan and Germany.

A top US health official said that the coronavirus will likely cause a global pandemic, and the deputy director of the US Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters "it's not a question if this will happen any more, but rather more of a question of when this will happen."

S&P 500 futures fell 1.5% today, to dive to a 3-month low, after the index closed lower by 3% yesterday at Wall Street, and posted its fourth straight daily loss.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index lost 1.7%, France's CAC 40 fell by 1.6%, the German DAX shed 2.1%, and the UK's FTSE 100 fell by 1.1%.

Gold prices rose on Wednesday, to resume gains after taking a breather yesterday on profit-taking from a 7-year high, as safe-haven demand on gold increased due to the fears over the coronavirus health crisis, after the US health centers warned from the coronavirus spread in the country.

Gold prices rose 1.2% to $1,654.96 an ounce, after opening at $1,635.05, and earlier hitting an intraday low of $1,634.38.

The yellow metal lost 1.5% yesterday, to drop for the first day in 6 days and post the biggest daily loss since February 4, on profit-taking from a 7-year high of $1,689.33.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged citizens to prepare for a potential coronavirus outbreak in the US, especially after infections increased in South Korea, Italy and Iran.

The successive negative news around the coronavirus, spooked investors from risky high-yielding assets, which is reflected in a massive sell-off in most global stock markets, as the global economy alongside most international banks and companies are expected to be sharply impacted by this health crisis.

The 10-year US Treasury yields fell to a record low near 1.30%, in addition to the interest rate futures for the prospects of the US Federal Reserve to cut rates at the next June meeting rose.

Gold stocks at the SPDR ETF rose by 6.15 metric tonnes yesterday, to reach a total of 940.09 mt, the highest level since Nov. 10, 2016.