- 10-year US T-bond yield erases more than 7% as flight-to-safety intensifies.
- Rate-sensitive financial shares suffer heavy losses in early trade.
- CBOE Volatility Index rises nearly 14% on Wednesday.
Major equity indexes in the United States started the day sharply lower amid intense flight-to-safety. The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street’s fear gauge, is up 13.9% on the day to confirm the dismal mood. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.1% on the day while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were erasing 1.8% and 1.6%, respectively.
Risk-off flows ramped up the demand for the 10-year US Treasury bond today and forced its yields to drop more than 7% on Wednesday. The rate-sensitive Financials Index came under heavy selling pressure on this development and was last down nearly 3% on the day to lead the losers among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, which are all in the negative territory in the early trade. Additionally, the Energy Index is losing 2% as dragged by a 3.5% fall in crude oil prices.
Earlier today, President Trump called upon the Fed to cut rates “bigger and faster” to be able to compete against other countries, reviving concerns over an all-out currency war on top of the ongoing trade war with China.
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