LONDON - Global markets showed further signs of stabilization on Wednesday as investors looked past the death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak to tiptoe back into shares and out of safe-haven assets such as the yen and German bonds.

World stocks were nearly flat despite a 3 percent fall in Hong Kong, where trading restarted after the Lunar New Year holiday, and remained just 2 percent off recent record highs following Tuesday’s bounce on Wall Street that was aided by robust earnings from Apple.

Of the 104 US companies to report results so far, 68.3 percent have topped expectations.

European shares opened firmer after Tuesday’s 0.8 percent rise, which was driven by banks after encouraging results from Spain’s Santander, and Swedbank a day earlier.

While Chinese mainland markets remain closed, Chinese equity futures traded in Singapore rebounded from two days of losses to rise 1.79 percent, the biggest gain in almost seven weeks.

“There appears to be more transparency, communication in terms of the virus, and that makes it easier to start assessing the economic fallout. So the markets have taken some comfort from that,” said Rainer Guntermann, a rates strategist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.

On currency markets, the offshore-traded yuan was little changed at 6.9620 per dollar but held off a one-month low hit earlier this week. Australia’s currency, considered a China proxy because of trade and investment links was also flat just off three-month lows.

The safe-haven yen was flat but traded above two-week highs touched on Monday while the dollar index too edged lower after approaching two-month highs.

The dollar’s next moves could be determined by the US Federal Reserve’s meeting later on Wednesday where the central bank should reiterate its on-hold stance.

But speculation has risen it could be shaken off autopilot by the virus, with money markets predicting one 25 basis-point rate cut this year and a small chance of a second.

Fears of economic damage are reflected also in the US Treasury yield curve where three-month yields briefly rose on Tuesday above 10-year borrowing costs — the so-called curve inversion that is seen as a fairly reliable recession signal.

As calm returns to markets, the curve has returned to normal, however, and Commerzbank’s Guntermann said pricing rate cuts at this stage was “ambitious”.

Treasury 10-year yields were around 1.63 percent, off three-month lows around 1.57 percent hit on Tuesday while German Bund yields also inched higher.

Wall Street futures were up around 0.25 percent, signalling a stronger open on a day that will bring earnings from 47 S&P 500 companies, including Facebook, Boeing, General Electric, Microsoft, McDonald’s and AT&T.

On commodity markets, crude futures rose for the second day after sharp falls triggered by fears for economic growth and a fall in travel demand, with Brent crude up 1 percent on the day . Gold, which had surged towards US$1600 an ounce on Monday, subsided to around US$1560.

Wall Street futures were up around 0.25 percent, signalling a stronger open on a day that will bring earnings from 47 S&P 500 companies, including Facebook, Boeing, General Electric, Microsoft, McDonald’s and AT&T.