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GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks set for worst weekly slump since 2008 as pandemic fears intensify

Published 28/02/2020, 07:11
Updated 28/02/2020, 07:19
© Reuters.  GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks set for worst weekly slump since 2008 as pandemic fears intensify

© Reuters. GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks set for worst weekly slump since 2008 as pandemic fears intensify

* MSCI ACWI down 9%, S&P500 in correction in just 6 days

* U.S. yield curve firmly inverted, investors fear recession

* Fed rate cut next month seen probable

* European shares seen falling over 3%

* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

By Hideyuki Sano

TOKYO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - World share markets were headed

for their worst week since the depths of the 2008 financial

crisis as investors ditched risky assets on fears the

coronavirus would become a pandemic and trigger a global

recession.

Stock futures showed European indexes set to track the rout

in their Asian counterparts on Friday, which comes after another

massive selloff on Wall Street overnight.

Hopes that the epidemic that started in China would be over

in a few months and economic activity would return to normal

have been shattered, as new infections reported around the world

now surpass those in China. The worsening global threat from the virus prompted

investors to rapidly step up bets the U.S. Federal Reserve would

cut interest rates as soon as next month to support economic

growth. "We don't even need to wait for economic data to see how

badly the economy is being hit. You can tell that the sales of

airlines and hotels are already falling by a half or something

like that," said Tomoaki Shishido, senior economist at Nomura

Securities.

On top of disruptions to international travel and supply

chains, economic damage also seems inevitable as governments

ordered schools shut and cancelled big gatherings to halt the

spread of the pathogen.

"It is fair to say the impact of the coronavirus will be

clearly much bigger than the U.S.-China trade war. So the Fed

does not have a reason to take a wait-and-see stance next

month," Shishido said.

MSCI all country world index .MIWD00000PUS fell 0.6% after

3.3% drop on Thursday. So far this week it has lost 9.4%, on

course for its biggest weekly decline since a 9.8% plunge in

November 2008.

Wall Street shares led the rout as the S&P 500 .SPX fell

4.42%, its largest percentage drop since August 2011, on

Thursday. It has lost 12% since hitting a record close on Feb.

19, marking its fastest correction ever in just six trading

days.

The CBOE volatility index .VIX , often called the "fear

index", jumped to 39.16, the highest level in about two years,

well out of the 11-20 range of recent months.

The index, which measures expected swings in U.S. shares in

the next 30 days, typically shoots up to around 50 when bear

market selling hits its heaviest and approached almost 90 during

the 2008-09 financial crisis.

European shares are expected to dive more than 3%, with Euro

Stoxx 50 futures STXEc1 down 3.18%, German DAX futures FDXc1

shedding 3.46% and FTSE futures FFIc1 losing 3.29%. U.S. stock

futures ESc1 fell 1.5% in Asia pointing to another bumpy Wall

Street session.

In Asia, MSCI's regional index excluding Japan

.MIAPJ0000PUS shed 2.7%. Japan's Nikkei .N225 slumped 4.3%

on rising fears the Olympics planned in July-August may be

called off due to the coronavirus.

"The coronavirus now looks like a pandemic. Markets can cope

even if there is big risk as long as we can see the end of the

tunnel," said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at

Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. "But at the moment, no

one can tell how long this will last and how severe it will

get."

World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom

Ghebreyesus said the virus could become a pandemic as the

outbreak spreads to major developed economies such as Germany

and France.

About 10 countries have reported their first virus cases

over the past 24 hours, including Nigeria, the biggest economy

in Africa.

The global rout knocked mainland Chinese shares lower, which

have been relatively well supported this month, as new

coronavirus cases in the country fell and Beijing doled out

measures to shore up economic growth. The CSI300 index of Shanghai and Shenzhen shares .CSI300

dropped 2.9%, on track for its first weekly loss in three.

"Economic troubles outside China, especially in the U.S.,

could hurt the Chinese economy. Foreign investors, who were

buying Chinese shares after the Lunar New Year holidays, have

become a net seller since late last week," said Wang Shenshen,

senior China equity strategist at Mizuho Securities. "Their

selling might have intensified today."

Fears of a major economic slump sent oil prices to their

lowest in more than a year.

U.S. crude futures CLc1 fell 3.2% to $45.59 per barrel,

having lost 14.5% so far on the week, which would be the deepest

fall in nearly nine years.

Investors flocked to the safety of high-grade bonds. U.S.

yields plunged with the benchmark 10-year notes yield hitting a

record low of 1.241%. It last stood at 1.247% US10YT=RR .

That is well below the three-month bill yield of 1.436%

US3MT=RR , deepening the so-called inversion of the yield

curve. Historically an inverted yield curve is one of the most

reliable leading indicators of a U.S. recession.

Expectations the Fed will cut interest rates to cushion the

blow are rising in money markets. Analysts say Fed funds futures

0#FF: are now pricing in about a 75% chance of a 25 basis

point cut at the central bank's March 17-18 meeting.

On the other hand, junk bond ETF prices HYG JNK fell to

multi-month lows on fears of increasing bankruptcies among

highly leveraged companies, with the energy sector hit hard by

falls in oil prices. In currency markets, the yen rose 0.6% to a near one-month

high of 108.86 to the dollar JPY= .

The euro stood at $1.0993 EUR= after Thursday's jump of

over 1%, the biggest gain in more than two years as investors

wound back bets against the currency versus the dollar.

The risk-sensitive Australian dollar lost 0.7% to an 11-year

trough of $0.6520 AUD=D4 .

The New Zealand dollar shed 1.0% to $0.6233 NZD=D4 , near a

four-year low of $0.6204 touched in October. New Zealand

confirmed its first case of coronavirus on Friday.

(Editing by Sam Holmes and Jacqueine Wong)

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