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Bond yields sink, stocks fall as investors demand safety amid outbreak

Posted at 3:21 PM, Mar 06, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-06 16:21:54-05

NEW YORK (AP) — Bond yields fell to more record lows Friday as investors continue to demand safety and unload stocks amid the new coronavirus outbreak.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note sank as low as 0.66% as investors worried that economic damage from the spreading virus outbreak will be worse than previously thought.

Major indexes ended down 1% or more after clawing back much larger losses earlier in the day.

The price of oil plunged 10%, its worst drop in more than five years.

The topsy-turvey trading came in the third week of market convulsions as traders try to assess how bad and how long the economic fallout will last as the virus continues to spread in the U.S. and abroad.

Worries about the virus, which causes COVID-19, have had markets on a roller coaster for weeks. They also completely overshadowed a strong report on U.S. jobs Friday.