(Updates to U.S. stock market close)
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Luxury and travel stocks drop
* CDC confirms first U.S. case of China coronavirus
* Yen, Treasuries gain on safe-haven move
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Risk assets took a hit across the globe on Tuesday, while the Japanese yen and U.S. Treasury prices gained, as financial markets reacted to mounting concern about a new strain of flu-like virus out of China.
The World Health Organization called a meeting for Wednesday to consider declaring a global health emergency while authorities in China confirmed the coronavirus could spread through human contact. The mayor of Wuhan, where the outbreak began, confirmed a sixth virus-related death and the United States reported its first case. worried about the threat of contagion as hundreds of millions travel for the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays, which peak over the coming weekend. Traders recalled the fallout from a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002-2003 that killed about 800 people and which China initially covered up.
Emerging market stocks lost 1.74%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed 1.63% lower, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 lost 0.91%. Kong, where the economy suffered broadly due to the SARS outbreak, saw its main stock index .HSI fall 2.8%, the most for any day in over five months. overnight chill in Asia carried over to European markets. Shares of luxury goods makers - which have large exposure to China - were among those declining the most. U.S. index of airline stocks fell 2.6%. Hotel and casino operators Las Vegas Sands Corp LVS.N and Wynn Resorts Ltd WYNN.O , both of which have large operations in China, dropped over 5%. fear is this could mushroom into an epidemic that could cut into economic activity," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. "If it turns into an epidemic, who's going to fly?"
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 152.06 points, or 0.52 percent, to 29,196.04, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 8.83 points, or 0.27 percent, to 3,320.79 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 18.14 points, or 0.19 percent, to 9,370.81.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 lost 0.16 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed 0.45 percent.
In other markets, U.S. 10-year government bond yields touched a two-week low while the safe-haven yen JPY= strengthened 0.34 percent versus the dollar at 109.83.
"The fear is that it could be a SARS-type event, which was an economic issue," said Ellis Phifer, market strategist at Raymond James in Tennessee. "But this is all cautionary. The market is not panicking or anything."
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 20/32 in price to yield 1.7673 percent, from 1.835 percent late on Friday. Monday was a U.S. market holiday.
The dollar index .DXY fell 0.01 percent, with the euro EUR= down 0.07 percent to $1.1086.
Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.3042, up 0.25 percent on the day.
The Australian dollar AUD= dropped on the flu worries since the country attracts large numbers of Chinese tourists, who tend to be big spenders over the Lunar New Year holidays. dollar was last up 0.6% against the offshore yuan at 6.9073 per dollar CNH= .
Some investors were relieved that U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron seemed to have struck a truce over a proposed digital tax. They agreed to hold off on a potential tariffs war until the end of the year, a French diplomatic source said. tariff war between China and the United States was blamed for the global economic growth slowdown of last year.
U.S. gold futures GCc1 fell 0.16 percent to $1,556.30 an ounce.
Oil prices fell on expectations that a well-supplied market would be able to absorb disruptions that have cut Libya's crude production to a trickle.
U.S. crude CLc1 fell 0.5 percent to $58.34 per barrel and Brent LCOc1 was last at $64.51, down 1.06 percent on the day.