World stocks sold off while safe-haven assets gained as troubles at property group China Evergrande fed concerns about spillover risks to the economy. In the upcoming Central bank meetings, this sparks a fresh investor worry. MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 1.63%. And then, the Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 sagged 1.7% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 2.2%. The U.S. Treasuries gaining in price, pulling down yields, and gold rising. And so, the investors are moving towards safe havens.
Shares in Evergrande has been scrambling to raise funds. So that they can be paid to its many lenders, suppliers and investors, closed down 10.2% at HK$2.28. Regulators have warned that its $305 billion of liabilities could spark broader risks to China’s financial system. Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia said that it started with the problems with the China Evergrande real estate company. He also thinks that it just has become a contagion. Tuz added that due to this everybody was afraid of September. Because this is the month that have significant selloffs.
Economically sensitive sectors, such as financials and energy, were hit particularly hard. Still, stocks pared losses late with U.S. indexes ending above their session lows. The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 1.67%. The selloff has seen a cumulative $2.2 trillion. Worries over Evergrande come as a rally in equities has stalled recently with investors focused on the impact of coronavirus cases on the economy. The U.S. Federal Reserve will meet. Then the investors look for when it will begin pulling back on its bond purchases.
Investors were also watching other central bank meetings spanning Brazil, Britain, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, the Philippines, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and Turkey. In currency trading, the dollar index rose 0.02%, with the euro up 0.01% to $1.1726. The offshore Chinese yuan weakened. Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 16/32 in price to yield 1.3158%. The iShares exchange-traded fund tracking high-yield corporate bonds fell 0.4%. U.S. crude settled down 2.3% at $70.29 per barrel. Spot gold added 0.6% to $1,764.30 an ounce.
