MW: U.S. stocks extend losses as Brexit-inspired fears persist
U.S. stocks edged lower for a second straight session Wednesday as Brexit-related uncertainties continued to spook the market, prompting investors to favor safe assets such as government bonds and gold.
A flight to safety sent Treasury yields to all-time lows while Japanese and German government bond yields slid further into negative territory.
The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.56% fell 10 points, or 0.4%, to 2,078 with nearly all 10 main sectors trading lower. Telecoms and financials led the losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.57% declined 80 points, or 0.5%, to 17,790. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.32% lost 22 points, or 0.5%, to 4,800.
“Anxiety over the impact of Brexit and its impact on global growth is once more plaguing the mindset of traders as a safe haven preference is playing out across asset classes,” Richard Perry, market analyst at Hantec Markets, said in a note.
“With the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield back below 1.400%, pressure is growing on Wall Street once more,” he said.
The yield on the 10-year Treasurys TMUBMUSD10Y, +0.05% fell to an all-time of 1.332% on Wednesday. In Japan, the yield on 20-year government bonds turned negative for the first time, in another sign of investors fleeing to havens.
The yen USDJPY, -0.76% rose on Wednesday, with the dollar buying ¥100.46, down from ¥101.74 late Tuesday in New York. The pound GBPUSD, -1.0136% continued its decline and dropped to a fresh post-Brexit low of $1.2798. Sterling, however, trimmed gains in early morning trade, fetching $1.2967.
