TOKYO: World stocks and the price of oil dropped sharply again on Friday (March 6) as pessimism prevailed over hopes for central bank action to counter the economic disruption from the virus outbreak. Rumours that Chinese officials might be overstating the extent to which local businesses are getting back to work also were undermining confidence, traders said.
The usually busy Merlion Park in Singapore looking almost empty on Friday . World stocks and the price of oil dropped sharply again on Friday as pessimism prevailed over hopes for central bank action to counter the economic disruption from the Covid-19 outbreak. - AFP
After broad losses in Asia, France's CAC 40 shed 3.7% to 5,160, while Germany's DAX fell 3.6% to 11,515. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 3.2% to 6,490. U.S. shares were set to slide again, with Dow futures down 2.1% and those for the S&P 500 falling 2.4%. "At this point no one can really explain why the markets behave the way they do, and what may be next. The only thing we can say is this high volatility is bad," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.
But it's virtually impossible to know just close to normal the situation has become in such a vast country. Communist Party officials have a long tradition of embellishing on statistics to fit official targets. In China, shares have been steadying along with the outbreak, with the Shanghai benchmark gaining nearly 12% since scraping bottom on Feb. 3. But there are doubts about just how quickly businesses will recover.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note went as low as 0.699% on Friday for the first time in history. Tumbling yields have brought the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage to a record low of 3.29%.
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