The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Staff/File Photo
NEW YORK/LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Risk aversion dominated markets on Friday as stocks slumped on Wall Street and in Europe, oil prices fell from seven-year highs earlier in the week and bond prices surged with traders scurrying for the relative safety of government debt.
Concerns about how aggressively the Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy shook investors, as did poor subscriber growth reported late Thursday at Netflix Inc cast a pall over the market and sent its shares plunging 21%.
The Nasdaq, the standout performer of the stock market boom since the pandemic began, has fallen more than 10% from a November all-time high and is poised for its worst week since markets crashed in March 2020.
With expectations the Fed will raise interest rates up to four times this year and also reduce its balance sheet, fear of a hard landing has risen among investors.
But a slowing economy in the months ahead will probably give the Fed second thoughts, said Steven Ricchiuto, U.S. chief economist at Mizuho Securities USA LLC.
"By the time we get to the second rate hike, everything will be rolling over enough that everybody will back off from these calls," he said. "The growth numbers will be slowing much more quickly than the Fed anticipated."
U.S. Treasury and euro zone government bond yields fell as concerns about potential conflict in Ukraine also dented risk appetite and stock market drops increased demand for the debt.
The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was down 9.4 basis points to 1.740%, a sharp drop from a two-year high of 1.902% touched on Wednesday.
In Europe, the German, French and Italian indices fell almost 2%, with the broad Euro STOXX index (.STOXX) of 600 leading regional companies closing down 1.84%. MSCI's all-country world index (.MIWD00000PUS) fell 1.37%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) slid 1.20%, the S&P 500 (.SPX) fell 1.74% and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) lost 2.39%.
Markets in Asia were broadly lower, including in China where benchmark mortgage rates were cut on Thursday in the latest move to prop up an economy soured by its property sector. read more
But the sharpest drops in recent days have been in U.S. markets, with the benchmark S&P 500 heading toward its worst month since late 2020.
The U.S. dollar edged lower with U.S. Treasury yields, with investors looking to next week's Fed meeting for more clarity on the outlook for rate hikes and quantitative tightening.
The dollar index , which tracks the greenback versus a basket of six currencies, fell 0.104%, to 95.661. The yen was last down 0.39% at $113.6400. The euro was last up 0.25%, at $1.1338
Oil prices slid for a second day, pressured by an unexpected rise in U.S. crude and fuel inventories while investors took profits after global oil benchmarks touched seven-year highs.
Brent crude futures fell 49 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $87.89 a barrel, while U.S. futures settled down 41 cents at $85.14 a barrel.
Gold was set to gain for a second week as inflation and geopolitical risks lifted its safe-haven appeal, but it slipped on Friday amid a broader decline in commodities.
U.S. gold futures settled down 0.6% at $1,831.80 an ounce.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Subscribe to our daily curated newsletter to receive the latest exclusive Reuters coverage delivered to your inbox.
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.
Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology.
The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs.
The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals.
Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile.
Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts.
Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
© 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved
