New Zealand markets have the ability to withstand the coronavirus outbreak

That's coming from The New Zealand Stock Exchange - as share prices dropped 2 per cent in response to another sharp fall on Wall Street.

US stocks are also on track for their worst week since the Global Financial Crisis and most major sharemarkets around the world have also gone in reverse.

NZX CEO Mark Peterson says balance sheets of New Zealand businesses are fairly conservatively geared and he doesn't foresee any long term impacts.