Stock market today: S&P 500 extends monthly win streak despite Nvidia-led stumble
By David Randall
NEW YORK, April 1 (Reuters) - World equity markets began the
new quarter with steep losses on Wednesday as evidence mounted
that the coronavirus pandemic was sending the global economy
into a deep recession.
Traders headed for the safety of government bonds, the
dollar USD/ and gold GOL/ following sharp slowdowns in
manufacturing activity in Japan and Germany one
day after data showed U.S. consumer confidence fell to 3-year
lows.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX sank 2.7% .EU , while
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed
1.11%. Tokyo's Nikkei .N225 slumped 4.5% after the worst
plunge in factory activity in almost a decade.
On Wall Street, major benchmarks opened sharply lower after
President Donald Trump warned late Tuesday that maintaining
social distancing guidelines for the next 30 days would be a
"matter of life and death." The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI slumped 755.87
points, or 3.45%, to 21,161.29, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 89.48
points, or 3.46%, to 2,495.11 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC
dropped 209.88 points, or 2.73%, to 7,490.22.
"President Trump's warning about two dreadful weeks ahead
and 100,000 - 240,000 deaths in the coming months is definitely
putting a negative tone on the market," said Societe Generale
strategist Kit Juckes. "It is pretty risk-off out there. It is
definitely a day of lower bonds yields, falling equity indexes
and tin hats."
U.S. markets ended the first quarter on Tuesday, marked by
the largest quarterly fall since 1987 for the Dow Jones and the
steepest for the benchmark S&P 500 since the financial crisis.
The fact it all happened in a month and from record highs made
it feel all the more brutal. U.S. economic activity is likely to be "very bad" and the
unemployment rate could rise above 10% because of efforts to
slow the spread of the coronavirus, Cleveland Federal Reserve
Bank President Loretta Mester told CNBC. L1N2BO2UT
In currency markets, the dollar's safe-haven appeal saw it
continue to rise. USD=
"In my view, markets have still not fully priced in the
damage from the coronavirus, with some people still talking
about V-shaped recovery," said Masahiko Loo, portfolio manager
at Alliance Bernstein in Tokyo.
"The U.S. and Europe are hit by the first wave now, but as
you can see in Asia, there could be more waves from re-imported
cases. Human psychology also does not quickly recover either
after an experience like this."
Traders jumped toward the perceived safety of government
bonds, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury
note to 0.5957% from 0.699% late on Tuesday.
Commodity markets were much rougher. Brent crude LCOc1
fell nearly 6% at one point to as low as $24.80 per barrel as
the United States, Russia, and Saudi Arabia jostled over a
massive oversupply of oil. O/R
Crude oil benchmarks ended the first quarter with their
biggest losses in history. Both U.S. and Brent futures got
hammered throughout March by the pandemic and a Saudi-Russia
price war.
Global demand has been cut sharply by travel restrictions.
Forecasters at major merchants and banks see demand slumping by
20% to 30% in April, and for weak consumption to linger for
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Global assets in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Global bonds dashboard (DO NOT USE UNTIL UPDATE FOUND) http://tmsnrt.rs/2fPTds0
Emerging markets in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country Wolrd Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
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