Stocks tumble, oil falls, gold spikes as virus fears grip markets

  • Date: 25-Feb-2020
  • Source: Reuters
  • Sector:Oil & Gas
  • Country:Bahrain
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Stocks tumble, oil falls, gold spikes as virus fears grip markets

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks across the globe fell by the most since mid-2016 on Monday and oil prices tumbled as a jump in coronavirus cases outside of China drove investors to the perceived safety of gold and government bonds on fears of the impact on the global economy.. Spot gold prices rose for a fifth straight session and touched a 7-year high while the U.S. 30-year Treasury bond yield set a record low.. MSCI's global gauge of stocks fell 3% and the three major U.S. indexes also fell more than 3%.. "It is not as though the numbers have changed dramatically; but what has changed is the geography, which adds a new level of concern," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities in New York.. The virus has now killed more than 2,500 people in China, which has reported some 77,000 cases, and spread to 29 other countries and territories, with a death toll of more than two dozen outside of China, according to a Reuters tally.. Yields on top-rated, tax-exempt U.S. municipal bonds fell to all-time lows of 1.01% in 10-year paper and 1.6% in 30-year debt, according to Municipal Market Data..