There was more blood on Wall Street Wednesday. Stocks and other risky assets fell while traders piled into safe-haven bonds.
The state of play: The S&P 500 fell to its lowest since March 11 with the Dow hitting its lowest since Feb. 11 and the Russell 2000 closing at its lowest since Jan. 30.
- The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 1.4% to the lowest since Feb. 21.
- The MSCI All-Country World Index declined 1.1%, the lowest since February.
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries touched the lowest since September 2016.
- Germany's 10-year government bond yields hit their lowest in about 3 years.
- Benchmark 10-year yields on Japanese government bonds fell to the lowest in almost 3 years and had the largest decrease in almost 6 weeks.
What they're saying: "The 2019 rally has been driven by 1) A dovish pivot by the Fed (no more hikes), 2) An expected U.S.-China trade deal, 3) Stable U.S. and global economic growth and 4) Better-than-feared earnings. Three of those four factors got significantly worse last week," said market analyst Tom Essaye in his Sevens Report newsletter.
- "The 2019 rally can likely survive the loss of any one factor (which is why the breakdown in U.S.-China trade hasn’t caused a deeper correction), but it likely cannot withstand the loss of any two factors. Right now, we have three of the four teetering."