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Pakistan's Premier Multilingual News Agency

World stocks toppled by coronavirus shock, oil price crash

Global share markets tumbled on Monday as panicked investors fled headlong to bonds to hedge the economic trauma of the coronavirus

SYDENY 9, March (Reuters) : Global share markets tumbled on Monday as panicked investors fled headlong to bonds to hedge the economic trauma of the coronavirus, and oil plunged more than 30% after Saudi Arabia opened the taps in a price war with Russia.
Investors drove 30-year U.S. bond yields beneath 1% on bets the Federal Reserve would be forced to cut interest rates by at least 75 basis points at its March 18 meeting, despite only just having delivered an emergency easing.
The safe-haven yen surged across the board as emerging market currencies with exposure to oil, including the Russian rouble and Mexican peso, tumbled.
Saudi Arabia had stunned markets with plans to raise its production significantly after the collapse of OPEC’s supply cut agreement with Russia, a grab for market share reminiscent of a drive in 2014 that sent prices down by about two thirds.[O/R]
The shock in oil was seismic as Brent crude LCOc1 futures slid $13.53 to $31.74 a barrel in chaotic trade, while U.S. crude CLc1 shed $13.45 to $27.83.[O/R]
“Today’s price action puts at risk the fiscal health of the vast majority of sovereign producers and budget cuts and increased debt loads are now looming in the event of a prolonged period of low prices,” warned Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets.
“For the most politically and economically fragile producer states, the reckoning could be severe.”
There were also worries that U.S. oil producers that had issued a lot of debt would be made uneconomic by the price drop.
Energy stocks took a beating and E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 dived 4.89% to be limit down. EUROSTOXXX 50 futures STXEc1 fell 5.9% and FTSE futures FFIc1 6.8%. [.N]
Japan’s Nikkei .N225 fell 5.2% and Australia’s commodity-heavy market 6.4%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS lost 3.9% in its worst day since late 2015, while Shanghai blue chips .CSI300 dropped 2.8%.
“Wild is an understatement,” said Chris Brankin, Chief Executive at stockbroker TD Ameritrade Singapore.
“Not just us, but across the globe you would have every broker/dealer raising their margin requirements…trying to basically protect our clients from trying to leverage too much risk or guess where the bottom is.”
Not helping the mood was news North Korea had fired three projectiles off its eastern coast on Monday.
And Italy’s markets are sure to come under fire after the government ordered a lockdown of large parts of the north of the country, including the financial capital Milan.
The number of people infected with the coronavirus topped 107,000 across the world as the outbreak reached more countries and caused more economic carnage.
“After a week when the stockpiling of bonds, credit protection and toilet paper became a thing, let’s hope we start to see some more clarity on the reaction,” said Martin Whetton, head of bond & rates strategy at CBA.
“Dollar bloc central banks cut policy rates by 125 basis points, not as a way to stop a viral pandemic, but to stem a fear pandemic,” he added, while noting many had little scope to ease further.

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