Italy has cut short its annual Venice Carnival due to the spread of COVID-19, which had originated in China.
Hong Kong's finance chief warned the city was being threatened by a "Tsunami-like cataclysm" due to the impact of the virus, Bloomberg reported.
The World Health Organisation said yesterday no new countries had reported cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours but there were 1,017 new cases reported globally, taking the overall tally to 78,811.
The death toll is now above 2,500.
The gold price has shot to a seven-year high and was trading above US$1,661 an ounce on the spot market earlier.
In London, precious metals producer Polymetal (LSE: POLY) was the biggest riser on the FTSE100 Friday, up 2.95%.
Eldorado Gold (TSX: ELD) jumped 31% in Toronto after releasing its full-year results, outlining its best production in three years and forecasting increased output at lower cost.
Diversified major BHP (ASX: BHP) was down more than 2.2% in morning trade.
