Global stocks steady after plunge on virus, oil crash

Beijing: Global stock markets rebounded on tuesday from record-setting declines after President Donald Trump said he would ask Congress for a tax cut and other measures to ease the pain of the spreading coronavirus outbreak.

On Wall Street, which suffered its biggest one-day drop since the 2008 global crisis on Monday, futures for the benchmark S&P 500 index picked up 3.9% and the contract for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 3.8%.

Monday’s global sell off reflected alarm over economic damage from the coronavirus that emerged in China in December.

Anti-disease controls that shut down Chinese factories are spreading as the United States and European countries close schools, cancel public events and impose travel controls.

The mounting losses and a flight by investors into the safe haven of bonds have fueled warnings the global economy, which already was showing signs of cooling, might be headed into a recession.

The drop in U.S. stock prices was so sharp that it triggered Wall Street’s first trading halt in more than two decades.

But Trump’s comment that he will seek relief for workers as ripple effects of the outbreak spread gave some investors an excuse to resume buying.

Oil prices plunged 25% on Monday after Russia refused to roll back production in response to virus-depressed demand. Saudi Arabia signaled it will ramp up its own output.

In currency trading, the dollar rose to 104.28 Japanese yen from 102.37 late monday. The euro slipped to $1.1369 from $1.1439.