Mar 8, 2020 - Economy

Wall Street's coronavirus anxiety hits new heights

Courtenay Brown

A board displaying the foreign exchange rate of US dollar against the Japanese yen, next to the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo. — A board displaying the foreign exchange rate of the US dollar against the Japanese yen, next to the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo. Photo: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP via Getty Images

Trading activity Sunday night shows the recent tumult on Wall Street will continue.

What's going on: The yield on the benchmark government bond continued its swift slide lower as nervous investors pile into the safe-haven asset, while pre-market trading pointed to steep declines for U.S. stocks. Oil prices dropped sharply.

Details: The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell below 0.5% at one point on Sunday night.

There's been a massive move in yields in a short amount of time. Less than one week ago, the yield broke below 1% for the first time ever. At the beginning of the year, the yield was around 1.88%.
S&P 500 futures fell 5%. That’s the most the CME allows it to fall before curbing trading until the market officially opens on Monday. That limit was last hit more than three years ago.
Separately, the OPEC-Russia production-limiting pact fell through, prompting oil prices to collapse. The price of Brent crude fell more than 20%.

Driving the news: Coronavirus cases spiked in the U.S. over the weekend. Overseas, Italy shut down a key economic hub to contain the spread of the virus.

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Wall Street's coronavirus anxiety hits new heights

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