* U.S. 10-year Treasury note yield hits record low
* World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Global assets year-to-date http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
(Updates prices, comments)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Stocks across the globe fell on
Tuesday to their lowest since early December and the benchmark
U.S. debt yield hit a record low on concerns about the economic
hit of the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The market selloff accelerated after the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention said Americans should begin to
prepare for community spread of the new coronavirus.
Oil prices continued to fall while the yen strengthened
against the dollar end euro, in signs that traders were in
search of relatively safer assets.
The flu-like virus has now infected more than 80,000 people,
10 times more cases than the SARS coronavirus.
The World Health Organization, however, has said the
epidemic in China, where the epidemic began in December, peaked
between Jan. 23 and Feb. 2 and has been declining since.
On Wall Street, where stocks fell the most in two years on
Monday, indexes shed over 2% at session lows.
"For the first time in a while we're finally waking up to
the fact that this issue could go on for a while and have a
significant impact on Chinese and global economic growth and
potentially the United States," said Randy Frederick, vice
president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in
Austin, Texas.
"When people react to it because they don't travel or go to
restaurants or go shopping, that'll have an immediate impact on
the economy. It depends how long it goes an how wide the
spread," he adding, advising that investors wait for at least
two days of gains before buying stocks again.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 628.83 points,
or 2.25%, to 27,331.97, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 68.38 points, or
2.12%, to 3,157.51 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
177.87 points, or 1.93%, to 9,043.41.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX lost 1.76% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed
1.77%.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS closed 0.14% higher, while Japan's Nikkei
.N225 , catching up to the sell-off after a Monday holiday,
lost 3.34%.
BET ON RATE CUTS
The risks are such that bond markets are starting to bet
central banks will have to ride to the rescue with new stimulus.
Futures for the Federal Reserve funds rate 0#FF: have
surged in the last few days to price in a 50-50 chance of a
quarter-point rate cut as early as April. In all, they imply
more than 50 basis points of reductions by year end.
The indication of falling U.S. rates hit the dollar against
a basket of its peers.
"Signs of the USD being penalized for having a central bank
with some capacity to cut rates raises the question of whether
rate spreads are likely to become a key driver any time soon,"
said Alan Ruskin, chief international strategist at Deutsche
Bank.
The dollar index =USD fell 0.339%, with the euro EUR= up
0.19% to $1.0873.
The Japanese yen strengthened 0.64% versus the greenback at
110.04 per dollar.
Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.3003, up 0.59% on the
The coronavirus death toll climbed to 11 in Italy on Monday
and several European countries were dealing with their first
infections, feeding worries about a pandemic.
The rush to bonds dragged yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury
notes US10YT=RR to a record low of 1.316%. The U.S. benchmark
last rose 18/32 in price to yield 1.3188%, from 1.377% late on
Monday.
The 30-year bond US30YT=RR set a fresh record low at 1.79
and last rose 30/32 in price to yield 1.797%, from 1.836% late
on Monday.
Gold ran into profit-taking after hitting a seven-year peak
overnight, and last dropped 0.9% to $1,644.82 an ounce.
Oil prices continued to fall as demand concerns linked to
the virus' spread outweighed supply cuts.
U.S. crude CLc1 fell 2.51% to $50.14 per barrel and Brent
LCOc1 was last at $55.14, down 2.06% on the day.
Global stocks' performance vs. reported coronavirus cases https://tmsnrt.rs/3c3WvTr
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Global assets in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
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