News • Opinons • Politics

Oil Crashes, U.S. Stock Futures Tank, Bond Yields Plummet, and Trading Curbs Kick In

Sharp declines in U.S. stock index futures triggered trading curbs meant to slow panicked markets as the price of oil fell by more than 30 percent and bond yields crashed amid heightened worries over the coronavirus.

E-mini futures on the S&P 500 dropped by 5 percent in overnight trading Sunday, triggering automatic trading curbs that kick-in when the price falls below 5 percent of the closing price of the referenced index Friday. As a result, the futures contract cannot trade at a lower price until the cash market opens at 9:30 a.m., although trades may still be made at higher prices.

The last time futures trading hit the overnight limit was election night of 2016, when markets initially sold off following the news that Donald Trump had won the election. That selling pressure quickly subsided and the major indexes closed up by around 1 percent or so the following day.


The E-mini is an electronically traded futures contract based on the underlying S&P 500 index. The contracts are around one-fifth the size of the standard S&P futures contracts, earning them the monicker “mini.” They are considered highly liquid and are widely traded but they have, in a few past episodes, been prone to so-called “flash crashes.”


Neighborhood backlash collides with America’s tech arms race — but is this the plan to fix it?
One southern state’s rise is making it America’s new ‘economic center of gravity’
WATCH: Dem senators dodge backing Kamala Harris in potential 2028 run: ‘Very messy’
Dem Policy Would Make Ralphie Get a Background Check for His Red Ryder BB Gun
Dems hand GOP fresh midterm weapon by opposing widely used voter ID
JPMorgan Sued After Employee Was Allegedly Asked Keep His ‘Gay Job’ Off the Clock
Illegal Families Given $100k: Report Reveals ‘Shadow Welfare System’ This State Uses to Fund Illegals
‘Family Man’ Stopped A Car Thief in Self-Defense: Now, He’s Charged With 7 Felonies
Fugitive suspect in Georgia mom’s silicone injection murder captured 17 years later after DMV slipup: cops
Trump says polls ‘don’t account for one thing,’ as he pledges to defeat communists ‘once and for all’
South Carolina birthday girls’ trip allegedly turns deadly at the hands of bartender, friend says
Iran could move shadow war in a dangerous direction, experts warn on back of two possible terror attacks
Abdul el Sayed has stabilized his Michigan Senate campaign. Can the Democrat hold the gains?
Ukraine Annihilates 3,000 Enemy Troops by Dropping Killer Robots Behind Russian Lines, Makes World History
GOP AGs Target Wall Street Big 3 for Punishing Companies with Bad Credit for Refusing to Comply with Woke ESG

See also  Illinois officials released more than 500 criminal immigrants despite ICE detainers, House GOP report finds

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite remain above the level that would trigger curbs in those contracts.

The chaotic market action was not confined to equities futures on Sunday. Investors bid up Treasuries, pushing yields down to new record lows, and oil prices tanked.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note sank 37 basis points to touch 0.448 percent in overnight trading Sunday. The yield on  30-year Treasuries fell below 1 percent.


Neighborhood backlash collides with America’s tech arms race — but is this the plan to fix it?
One southern state’s rise is making it America’s new ‘economic center of gravity’
WATCH: Dem senators dodge backing Kamala Harris in potential 2028 run: ‘Very messy’
Dem Policy Would Make Ralphie Get a Background Check for His Red Ryder BB Gun
Dems hand GOP fresh midterm weapon by opposing widely used voter ID
JPMorgan Sued After Employee Was Allegedly Asked Keep His ‘Gay Job’ Off the Clock
Illegal Families Given $100k: Report Reveals ‘Shadow Welfare System’ This State Uses to Fund Illegals
‘Family Man’ Stopped A Car Thief in Self-Defense: Now, He’s Charged With 7 Felonies
Fugitive suspect in Georgia mom’s silicone injection murder captured 17 years later after DMV slipup: cops
Trump says polls ‘don’t account for one thing,’ as he pledges to defeat communists ‘once and for all’
South Carolina birthday girls’ trip allegedly turns deadly at the hands of bartender, friend says
Iran could move shadow war in a dangerous direction, experts warn on back of two possible terror attacks
Abdul el Sayed has stabilized his Michigan Senate campaign. Can the Democrat hold the gains?
Ukraine Annihilates 3,000 Enemy Troops by Dropping Killer Robots Behind Russian Lines, Makes World History
GOP AGs Target Wall Street Big 3 for Punishing Companies with Bad Credit for Refusing to Comply with Woke ESG

See also  Somali former aide to Minneapolis mayor sentenced in Feeding Our Future fraud case

Oil prices crashed more than 30 percent Sunday night after Saudia Arabia on Saturday slashed official crude prices for April following the collapse of talks between OPEC+, which includes the traditional OPEC nations plus Russia. Oil had fallen sharply on Friday following the news that talks had fallen apart but took an even deeper tumble, falling an additional 20 percent or so, when it became apparent that the once allied oil producers were now engaged in a price war to take market share from each other.

Low oil prices were an unambiguous boon to the U.S. economy, boosting consumer buying power and keeping a lid on inflation. But now that the U.S. is once again a major world oil producer, low oil prices can weigh on employment, manufacturing, and the financial stability of heavily-leveraged U.S. drillers. That could even shake some regional banks with large exposures to the drillers.

Story cited here.

Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter