Coronavirus pandemic and US recession aren’t yet priced into markets - fund manager

CNBC reports that despite taking a beating last week as cases of the new coronavirus spread rapidly around the world, U.S. markets have yet to price in a full-scale pandemic and subsequent recession, a U.S. equity manager told.

Speaking to CNBC, Columbia Threadneedle EMEA Head of U.S. Equities Nadia Grant said that despite the volatility, her team had not yet seen enough to make any strategic plays on cheaper stocks.

She said the market is pricing in 0% earnings growth for 2020, "rightly so", with a return to around 8% in 2021.

"That's what the market is pricing in, that's what our base case scenario also is. But I do not think the markets are washed; I do not think markets have panicked, and so in terms of finding great ideas, we haven't had enough of a sell-off for that," Grant said.

She added that the worst-case scenario of the virus becoming a pandemic with a recessionary impact on the U.S. economy was "not priced in at all by the market right now."

Grant hypothesized that containment measures similar to those exercised in China, involving the widespread shutdown of manufacturing facilities, schools and businesses, could see Columbia Threadneedle analysts' worst-case scenario play out.