World stocks toppled by coronavirus shock, oil price crash

World stocks toppled by coronavirus shock, oil price crash

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Global share markets tumbled on Monday as panicked investors fled headlong to bonds to hedge the economic trauma of the coronavirus, and oil plunged more than 30% after Saudi Arabia opened the taps in a price war with Russia.. Investors drove 30-year U.S. bond yields beneath 1% on bets the Federal Reserve would be forced to cut interest rates by at least 75 basis points at its March 18 meeting, despite only just having delivered an emergency easing.. There were also worries that U.S. oil producers that had issued a lot of debt would be made uneconomic by the price drop.. A tectonic shift saw markets <0#FF:> fully price in an easing of 75 basis points from the Fed on March 18, while a cut to near zero was now seen as likely by April.. The European Central Bank meets on Thursday and will be under intense pressure to act, but rates there are already deeply negative.. Analysts at BofA Global Research estimated the latest sell-off had seen $9 trillion in global equity value vaporised in nine days, while the average 10-year yield in the developed world hit 16 basis points, the lowest in 120 years.. Yields