U.S. stocks fell for a second straight day, but rallied into the close to pare steep losses. Treasury yields sank amid fears mounting that the government response to the spreading coronavirus won’t prevent an economic slump.

The S&P 500 slid 1.7 per cent, furiously trimming losses in the final hour of trading that reached as much as 4 per cent, and ending slightly higher for the roller-coaster week. Indexes were whipsawed over the past five days as the spreading virus shook investor confidence and spurred action from central banks and governments.

Treasuries fell to all-time lows, with the 10-year yield dropping as far as 0.66 per cent. The dollar slid for the sixth time in seven days. West Texas crude plunged 10 per cent, the biggest drop in more than five years. A derivatives index that investors use to hedge against losses rose the most since at least 2011.

Investors have grown increasingly anxious that the Trump administration’s preference for forgoing fiscal stimulus in favor of pressuring the Federal Reserve into more action will fall short of propping up the economy as airlines cancel routes and events get delayed around the nation.

“As long as we’re seeing cases climb, it’s going to drive volatility in the market,” Shawn Cruz, manager of trader strategy at TD Ameritrade, said by phone. “What you’re seeing is almost a coordinated response to try to counteract that drop in sentiment, the fear of what the actual economic impact’s going
to be.”

While concerted efforts from central banks and governments to soften the blow from the virus spurred gains across equity markets earlier in the week, investors are back to taking risk off the table and piling into the world’s safest and most liquid assets. The number of coronavirus cases globally surpassed
100,000 as more infections were reported in the Europe and Iran.

Markets mostly shrugged off the latest U.S. jobs report, which showed the biggest gain in nearly two years, because it only reflected conditions before the virus outbreak began snarling global supply chains and intensified across America.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

* The S&P 500 Index dropped 1.7 per cent as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1 per cent.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.9 per cent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 3.7 per cent.
* Germany’s DAX Index fell 3.4 per cent.

Currencies

* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3 per cent
* The British pound increased 0.5 per cent to US$1.3015.
* The euro advanced 0.7 per cent to US$1.1312.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.8 per cent to 105.37 per dollar.

Bonds

* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell 19 basis points to 0.72 per cent.
* The yield on two-year Treasuries declined nine basis points to 0.50 per cent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield decreased two basis points to -0.71 per cent.

Commodities

* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 10.1 per cent to US$41.31 a barrel, the most since 2015.
* Brent crude settled down 9.4 per cent, the most since December 2008
* Gold rose 0.1 per cent to US$1,670.30 an ounce.