Stocks, Treasury yields and oil sank Friday while the yen jumped as a new Covid-19 strain discovered in southern Africa sent a wave of caution across global markets.
MSCI Inc.’s Asia-Pacific equity gauge slid to the lowest since early October, with Japan and Hong Kong underperforming and travel shares among the biggest decliners. U.S. and European futures fell and the 10-year Treasury yield dropped to 1.55%.
The World Health Organization and scientists in South Africa are studying the recently identified variant, which has been described as very different to previous versions and of serious concern. The U.K., Singapore and Israel curbed travel from South Africa and some neighboring countries. Hong Kong confirmed two cases of the strain.
The dollar was near a 16-month high, while South Africa’s rand weakened and commodity currencies retreated. Crude shed more than 3% and gold rose. U.S. markets, closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, will have a shortened Black Friday session.
The detection of the strain comes on top of concerns in markets about high inflation and the prospect of quicker exit from ultra-loose monetary settings. Global shares are up about 16% this year, weathering a plethora of risks after investors poured almost $900 billion into equity exchange-traded and long-only funds in 2021 -- topping the combined total from the past 19 years.
“It’s a scary headline” about the virus variant, so it may have caused a knee-jerk reaction, said Kyle Rodda, an analyst at IG Markets Ltd. He added that “North America off the desks means there’s a wall of buyers missing” and that thinner markets make for more pronounced moves.
Nikkei -2.53% Hang seng -2.60% CSI -0.74% Shanghai -0.56% Shenzen -0.20%
Eur$ CNH 6.3929 CNY 6.3893 JPY 114.26 GBP 1.3298 CHF 0.9303 RUB 75.5666 TRY 12.0307 WTI$ 75.20 -4% Gold 1804 +15 BTC 57000 -3.10% ETH 4350 -3.35%
S&P -1.5% Nasdaq -0.82% EuroStoxx -3.20% FTSE -2.60% Dax -2.64% SMI 2.40%
Macro :
- German Greens’ Baerbock Doesn’t Rule Out Lockdown: Spiegel
Keep an eye on :
Macro :
- German Greens’ Baerbock Doesn’t Rule Out Lockdown: Spiegel
Keep an eye on :
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