(Bloomberg) — Stocks fell globally with U.S. equity futures while Treasuries edged higher on Thursday as a swell of coronavirus cases in America and other countries sapped appetite for riskier assets.Declines in media and travel shares led the Stoxx Europe 600 sharply lower at the open. Deutsche Lufthansa jumped 21% after its biggest stockholder said he’d vote in favor of a 9 billion-euro ($10 billion) government bailout. Stocks declined in Tokyo, Sydney and Seoul, while China and Hong Kong were shut for holidays.Contracts on the three major American gauges all fell after the indexes each sank more than 2% yesterday. The dollar headed for a second day of gains versus a basket of its peers. West Texas crude oil fell below $38 a barrel, while gold continued its push toward $1,800 an ounce.The pullback from equities and flight to havens reflects investor worries that lockdowns may be reimposed and economies re-opened more slowly. New infections set daily records in Texas, Florida and California. Health leaders called on the U.K. to prepare for a possible second wave, while Australia recorded its largest spike in cases since April.“The market really got the shivers over the prospect of a big increase in Covid and maybe starting to see places that were opening up have to close up, pressing the economy and lowering the prospects for the stock market,” Margie Patel, portfolio manager at Wells Fargo Asset Management, said on Bloomberg TV. “We’ve had such a great run from the end of March it’s only inevitable that we should get at least a little step back on the way to higher prices over the course of the year.”Here are some key events coming up:U.S. jobless claims, durable goods and GDP data are due Thursday.A rebalance of Russell indexes is due on Friday.These are some of the main moves in markets:StocksThe Stoxx Europe 600 Index dipped 1% as of 8:15 a.m. London time.Futures on the S&P 500 Index declined 1.2%.Nasdaq 100 Index futures decreased 0.9%.The MSCI Emerging Market Index fell 0.8%.CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.3%.The euro dipped 0.2% to $1.1228.The British pound decreased 0.1% to $1.2408.The Japanese yen weakened 0.1% to 107.13 per dollar.South Africa’s rand weakened 0.8% to 17.5101 per dollar.BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased two basis points to 0.66%.Germany’s 10-year yield dipped two basis points to -0.46%.France’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to -0.117%.Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.166%.CommoditiesWest Texas crude oil dipped 0.6% to $37.46 a barrel.Gold strengthened 0.3% to $1,766.33 an ounce.LME aluminum decreased 0.8% to $1,563.50 per metric ton.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
