Investors drive 30-year US bond yields beneath 1% on bets Fed will cut interest rates by at least 75 basis points
A Kuwaiti trader checks stock prices from the outside after authorities stopped trading at Boursa Kuwait in Kuwait City, on March 8 2020. Picture: AFP/YASSER AL-ZAYYAT
Saudi Arabia had stunned markets with plans to raise its production significantly after the collapse of Opec’s supply cut agreement with Russia, a grab for market share reminiscent of a drive in 2014 that sent prices down by about two thirds. Not helping the mood was news North Korea had fired three projectiles off its eastern coast on Monday.
“Dollar-bloc central banks cut policy rates by 125 basis points, not as a way to stop a viral pandemic, but to stem a fear pandemic,” he added, while noting many had little scope to ease further.In a tectonic shift markets fully priced 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.
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