Stocks Drop With Oil; Dollar Halts Four-Day Slide: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- Stocks retreated along with crude oil, and the dollar snapped a four-day slide as investors took in weekend developments that underscored a long road ahead to defeat the coronavirus.Still, the risk-off moves were more contained than in the past three Mondays, when futures on the S&P 500 Index hit limit-down early on. Today they were down less than 2%. Japan’s Topix underperformed as a majority of its members traded without the right to the latest dividend. The yen advanced along with sovereign bonds, while crude oil in New York dropped below $20 at one point. The yuan dipped as China’s central bank lowered short-term funding rates and injected cash into its financial system.Singapore’s dollar fluctuated after the monetary authority there -- which uses the exchange rate as its main policy tool -- announced a modest easing, reducing the slope of its currency band to zero while affirming the current level. Emerging currencies including South Africa’s rand and Mexico’s peso tumbled amid concerns about debt downgrades.The latest news on the coronavirus underlined how, while policy makers the world over have dramatically stepped up their efforts to prevent the health crisis from becoming a financial one, the health situation itself does continue to deteriorate.The top American infectious disease expert said deaths from the coronavirus in the world’s largest economy may reach 200,000. Australia limited public gatherings to just two people.“The assumption that we can turn a switch in a month or two and everything is going to be okay is a faulty opinion,” David Kotok, chief investment officer at Cumberland Advisors Inc., told Bloomberg TV. “We are waiting to see the closer timetable of treatment, testing, and vaccine -- that’s very important to us.”Quarter-end strains could add to investor nervousness on Monday and Tuesday as financial firms rein in collateral lending to shore up balance sheets, while Japanese banks face their fiscal year-end. The MSCI gauge of global equities is down about 23% since the start of the year, on course for its worst quarter since the end of 2008.“Markets are still in uncharted territory,” said Medha Samant, director of investment at Fidelity International. “When you look at the stages of this pandemic, you’ve gone into escalation,” she said. “The epicenter has shifted to the U.S.”These are the main moves in markets:StocksJapan’s Topix index fell 3.5% at the lunch break in TokyoFutures on the S&P 500 declined 1.1%. The S&P 500 fell 3.4% on Friday.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.4%.The Shanghai Composite lost 1.5%.South Korea’s Kospi slid 2%.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 2.4%.CurrenciesThe yen rose 0.6% to 107.27 per dollar.The offshore yuan dropped 0.2% to 7.1013 per dollar.The euro declined 0.5% to $1.1087.The Aussie slipped 0.4% to 61.44 U.S. cents.BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped three basis points to 0.65%.Australian 10-year yields plunged about 16 basis points to 0.76%.CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude was down 5.7% to $20.28 a barrel.Gold dipped 0.5% to $1,619.91 an ounce.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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