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Mar 9, 2020 - Economy & Business

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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