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GLOBAL MARKETS-Europe suffers worst day since 2016 as virus spreads, Wall Street opens ugly

Published 24/02/2020, 16:10
© Reuters.  GLOBAL MARKETS-Europe suffers worst day since 2016 as virus spreads, Wall Street opens ugly
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(Updates levels throughout after U.S. open)

* European stocks tumble, Italy down over 4% after virus

spread

* 10-year Treasury yields rally to lowest since mid 2016

* MSCI ex-Japan extends losses, Japan closed for public

holiday

* Gold prices surge to highest since 2013

* Dollar pushes higher, batters emerging markets

* E-mini futures for S&P500 fall more than 1% in Asia

trading

* South Korea on alert after virus cases surge to 763

* China reports 2,592 die of virus

By Marc Jones

LONDON Feb 24 (Reuters) - European shares suffered their

biggest slump since mid-2016 on Monday and oil plunged almost

5%, as a jump in coronavirus cases in Italy, South Korea, Japan

and Iran sent investors scrambling to the security of gold and

government bonds.

Wall Street dived around 3% after it opened .N as the ugly

sell-off spread.

Europe had seen Milan's stock market plummet over 5.5% after

a spike in cases of the virus left six dead in Italy and parts

of the country's industrial north in virtual lockdown.

Frankfurt .GDAXI and Paris .FCHI both fell more than 4%

and London's FTSE .FTSE dropped 3.8%, wiping at least $400

billion off the region's market value in a few short hours.

The flight to safety was just as resounding, gold surging

2.5% to a seven-year high of $1,680 an ounce. GOL/

Bonds rallied too. Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields dropped

below 1.36% US10YT=RR for the first time since July 2016. The

30-year Treasury touched a record low at just under 1.81%

US30YT=RR and German yields dropped to -0.48% DE10YT=RR ,

their lowest in more than four months. GVD/EUR

"Everybody sees that this could be another leg down for the

economy, and we were already in quite a fragile state to begin

with," said Rabobank's head of macro strategy, Elwin de Groot.

"It could be another step towards a recession in more

countries."

Wall Street's initial fall swiped more than 800 points off

the Dow .DJI , shoved the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX below its

50-day moving average -- a key technical level for chart

watchers -- and took MSCI's world index negative for the year.

In Asia overnight, South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 had slumped

3.9% after the government declared a high alert. The number of

cases rose to 763 and deaths to seven. Japanese markets were closed, but Australia's benchmark

index slid 2.25% and New Zealand fell about 1.8%. .AXJO

.NZ50 . China's blue-chip CSI300 .CSI300 closed down 0.4%,

taking MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside

Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS to its lowest since early February.

The virus has now killed 2,592 people in China, which has

reported 77,150 cases, and spread to some 28 other countries and

territories, with a death toll outside of China around two

dozen, according to a Reuters tally. [nL8N2AB5TN

Iran, which announced its first infections last week, said

it had confirmed 43 cases and eight deaths, with most cases in

the holy city of Qom. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Turkey and

Afghanistan imposed travel and immigration restrictions on the

Islamic Republic.

"The idea that the coronavirus has been fully contained has

been firmly banished," Chris Beauchamp Chief Market Analyst at

IG. "This means the economic forecasts of the impact, such as

they are, will need to be revised, with a greater impact now to

be expected.

SURGE TO SAFETY

As well as the early whack to Wall Street, CBOE's VIX

volatility index .VIX , the so-called fear gauge, reached its

highest since August.

U.S. fed fund futures 0#FF: signalled more rate cuts later

this year and a near 20% chance of a cut next month.

FX markets reacted by pushing up the safe-haven Japanese yen

to 111.34 yen per dollar JPY= . But against the rest of the

world, the dollar was again showing its strength.

The euro was squeezed towards $1.08 EUR= and the

Australian dollar, often traded as a proxy for China risk, fell

to an 11-year low of $0.6585 AUD=D3 . /FRX

Korea's won KRW= was down 1% at 1,219.06 after falling to

its weakest since August 2019. Emerging-market currencies from

Mexico's peso MXN= and Turkey's lira TRY= to Poland's zloty

and Russia's rouble were all in the red.

In commodity markets, Brent crude LCOc1 fell 3.5%, or

$2.1, to $56.35 a barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 dropped 3%, or

$1.64, to $51.74 a barrel. Among the main industrial metals,

copper fell 1.4% and zinc was down 2.5%. MET/L

"Oil prices will remain vulnerable here as energy traders

were not pricing in the coronavirus becoming a pandemic," said

Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.

"While some parts of China are seeing improving

statistics... markets will remain on edge until we start seeing

the situation improve in Iran, Italy, South Korea and Japan."

Asia stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

Asia-Pacific valuations https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA

World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

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