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GLOBAL MARKETS-Stock sell-off rolls to Asia, bonds rally on virus risk

Published 06/03/2020, 01:53
Updated 06/03/2020, 01:54
© Reuters.  GLOBAL MARKETS-Stock sell-off rolls to Asia, bonds rally on virus risk
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* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

* Tracking the coronavirus: https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7

* Asian stocks fall; CDC warns Americans on virus

* Treasury yields remain near record lows

* Dollar left damaged by bond market rally

* Oil rises on hopes output cuts to support market

By Stanley White

TOKYO, March 6 (Reuters) - Asian shares fell on Friday

following another Wall Street rout as disruptions to global

business from the coronavirus beyond China worsened, stoking

fears of a prolonged world economic slowdown.

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

.MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.5%. Australian shares .AXJO fell

1.86%, while Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 slid 1.45%.

Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell to a record low as

investors increased bets that the Federal Reserve will follow

this week's surprise 50 basis point rate cut with further easing

to prevent corporate bond spreads from widening further.

Tumbling yields hammered the dollar, which traded near a

six-month low versus the yen and close to a two-year trough

against the Swiss franc.

Oil prices rose on hopes that output cuts would protect the

market from an expected decline in global energy demand.

The spread of a new coronavirus has accelerated so much in

Europe, Britain and North America that investors who once played

down the virus are now re-assessing the risks, which means more

volatility in financial markets.

"Optimism overseas is fading and now people are really

starting to question just how bad things will get," said Takuya

Kanda, general manager of research at Gaitame.com Research

Institute in Tokyo.

"For some investors, Treasuries are the only place to park

their money, but for others buying the dollar or stocks is out

of the question."

U.S. stock futures ESc1 rose 0.43% in Asia on Friday, but

that did little to brighten the mood.

The S&P 500 .SPX tumbled 3.39% on Thursday. The benchmark

S&P 500 ended down more than 10% from its Feb. 19 closing high,

after last week logging its biggest weekly percentage decline

since October 2008.

Officials and companies in Britain, France, Italy, and the

United States are struggling to deal with a steady rise in

coronavirus infections that have in some cases triggered

corporate defaults, office evacuations, and panic buying of

daily necessities.

The flu-like virus emerged late last year in the central

Chinese city of Wuhan and has since spread to more than 80

countries and claimed more than 3,000 lives. New infections have

slowed in China, but there are concerns other countries are not

prepared.

Travel restrictions and factory closures aimed at curbing

the spread of the virus are expected to put downward pressure on

global economic growth.

Many investors await the release of U.S. non-farm payrolls

later on Friday. Recent U.S. economic data has been strong, but

concerns about the epidemic are likely to overshadow any signs

of a strong labour market.

The Federal Reserve and Bank of Canada both responded to the

economic threats by cutting interest rates by 50 basis points

this week.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR

fell to a record low of 0.8980% in Asia Friday.

Money markets were pricing in another 25 basis-point-cut

from the current 1% to 1.25% range at the next Fed meeting on

March 18-19 and a 50-basis-point cut by April.

Against the Japanese yen JPY= , the dollar fell to a

six-month low and was last at 106.30 yen. The greenback also

sank to a two-year trough of 0.9447 Swiss franc CHF=EBS .

Sterling GBP=D3 traded near a one-week high versus the

dollar.

The euro EUR=EBS eased slightly to $1.1215. Markets in the

euro zone are pricing in a 93% chance that the European Central

Bank will cut its deposit rate, now minus 0.50%, by 10 basis

points next week.

U.S. crude CLc1 ticked up 0.87% to $46.3 a barrel. OPEC on

Thursday agreed to a bigger-than-expected oil output cut to

support prices that have been hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

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