Chinese chip stocks jump as Beijing reportedly warns against Nvidia’s H20
(Adds U.S. market open, byline, dateline; previous LONDON)
* World share index heads for worst month since August
* U.S., European equity markets fall more than 1%
* Dismal Chicago PMI adds to fears of slower growth
* Amazon surges 8.7% as sales beat forecasts
* Bond yields slump and oil prices slip
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Global equity markets were
poised for their first monthly loss since August on Friday as
growing concerns about the economic impact of the coronavirus
outbreak in China sapped investors' risk appetite and lifted the
safe-haven yen and Swiss franc.
Gold headed to its best month in five, while yields on U.S.
and euro zone government debt fell to three-month lows, as the
United States, Japan and other countries tightened travel curbs
to China, where the death toll from the virus rose to 213.
Crude prices slipped further as disruptions to supply chains
and travel curbs are expected to weigh on Chinese economic
growth, leading economists to temper their expectations for the
world's second-largest economy.
Citigroup revised its full-year forecast for China's GDP
growth to 5.5% in 2020 from 5.8%. The bank also cut growth
expectations in the first quarter to 4.8% from 6% in the fourth
quarter of 2019.
JPMorgan shaved its forecast for global growth by 0.3
percentage point for this quarter.
A U.S. economic indicator fell abruptly, dousing hopes for
stronger growth. The Chicago Purchasing Management index fell to
a lower-than-expected 42.9, the lowest since December 2015, as
new orders and production tumbled and producers forecast tepid
activity in 2020.
"The Chicago PMI was very weak," said Tim Ghriskey, chief
investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York.
The recently signed U.S.-China trade deal was expected to
lift the global economy, but the coronavirus outbreak has
dampened that outlook, he said.
"Market expectations are for a big push in growth. It's
being put off every quarter, especially the industrial side of
the economy," Ghriskey said. "Bond yields have plummeted. The
bond market is trying to tell us something."
U.S. and European stock markets fell more than 1% and yields
on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note slid below 1.53%.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed
1.02%, while emerging market stocks lost 1.15%.
In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX lost
1.14%.
Early gains in Europe quickly soured as headlines of more
cases and deaths, travel bans and factory shutdowns due to the
virus were compounded by disappointingly weak economic data.
The big blow was that both the French and Italian economies
unexpectedly shrank at the end of last year, with Eurostat also
confirming that the euro zone as a whole grew slower than
analysts had forecast. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
446.66 points, or 1.55%, to 28,412.78. The S&P 500 .SPX lost
45.71 points, or 1.39%, to 3,237.95 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 115.92 points, or 1.25%, to 9,183.02.
The poor data reading and fears of a spreading virus
obscured relatively solid fourth-quarter earnings reports.
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O surged 8.7% after it trumped Wall
Street's estimates for holiday-quarter results, bolstering the
online retailer's market capitalization to more that $1
trillion. Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS extended
their fall, dropping 0.4%. Japan's Nikkei .N225 bounced 1%,
but was off 2.6% for the week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI
drifted 0.3% lower and has shed 9% in two weeks. Korea's Kospi
.KS11 had its worst week in 15 months, losing 5.6%.
Sterling extended gains after jumping on Thursday when the
Bank of England confounded market expectations by not cutting
interest rate cut. GBP/
Sterling GBP= traded at $1.3186, up 0.70% on the day. The
yen JPY= strengthened 0.54% versus the greenback at 108.39 per
dollar.
The dollar index .DXY fell 0.46%, with the euro EUR= up
0.48% to $1.1083.
The Australian dollar fell to a four-month low against the
U.S. dollar, while China's offshore yuan struggled to find a
footing in the wake of the virus outbreak.
The 10-year Treasury note US10YT=RR rose 9/32 in price to
yield 1.5238%.
Spot gold XAU= was up 0.87% at $1,587.58 an ounce.
Oil prices fell, on track for a fourth straight weekly loss.
Brent crude LCOc1 fell 31 cents to $57.98 a barrel. U.S.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 slid 66 cents to $51.48 a
barrel.
Asia stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Asia-Pacific valuations https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA
Markets tumble on coronavirus worries https://tmsnrt.rs/2Ogh6tn
Coronavirus wipes mroe than $1 trillion off world stocks https://tmsnrt.rs/2Uaul2u
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