Risk aversion spreads across global markets as key stocks make big movements

On Monday, global markets had a 3 percent fall and then it was flat. On Tuesday, the NASDAQ was down 3.5 percent at one point, but the loss has sustained into a close.

Risk aversion is being witnessed across the board and there are a couple of technical things at play. Liquidity was subpar in the US equity markets, at least overnight. There were earnings coming through and there were very large moves in terms of single stocks. Tesla was down along with a few other stocks.

When one looks at the equity index change overnight and then decides on how to position oneself, this reading is important. It is not a complete wipe-out in that sense. There are individual triggers.

The 5-year US Treasury yield was down 13 basis points (bps) and the 10-year US Treasury yield was down about 10 bps or so. Brent crude oil prices were up overnight by 2.5 percent and metals didn’t sell-off, they were higher to flat.

Geopolitical rumblings are still on, there are reports that Russia may cut off gas supplies earlier than expected to central Europe. The US dollar is also moving higher.

Watch the accompanying video of CNBC-TV18’s Prashant Nair for more details.