Gold and the yen rallied to five-month highs while Treasury note yields approached the lowest levels of the year as investors sought out traditional havens from geopolitical risks. The U.S. equity market's standard fear gauge rose to the highest since November.
The yen strengthened versus all of its G-10 peers as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said during a Group of Seven meeting in Italy that Russia must abandon its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Tensions also remain high in Asia after President Donald Trump said on Twitter that "North Korea is looking for trouble," and that the U.S. would "solve the problem" with or without China.
"It seems like a perfect storm of factors re-pricing the reflation trade that we've seen since the election," said Michael Lorizio, a Boston-based senior trader at Manulife Asset Management, which oversees about $343 billion. "As the global macro picture gets muddied a bit by some strong words from North Korea and the president's tweets, that's spooked markets that were already in a bit of a risk-off tone to begin with."
Ten of 11 sectors were lower in the S&P 500, with real estate related stocks the only sector trading higher. The widespread decline sent the the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, to the highest level since the U.S. presidential election.
What Investors Are Watching:
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visits Moscow in an effort to persuade Russia that its alliance with Bashar al-Assad is no longer in its strategic interest. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari will participate in a Q&A at a meeting of the Minnesota Business Partnership. U.K. data on Wednesday is likely to show employment has remained steady while wage growth slowed. U.S. bank earnings begin with Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo early Thursday.
Here are the main moves in markets:
Currencies
The yen gained 1 percent to 109.81 per dollar at 12:26 p.m. in New York, breaching 110 for the first time since November. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3 percent, while the euro rose 0.1 percent. The British pound was 0.6 percent stronger at $1.2484; data showed U.K. inflation's upward trajectory paused in March.
