Gold rose as sliding global stock markets prompted risk-wary investors to seek the metal, and a drop in U.S. Treasury bond yields helped push the dollar lower.
MSCI’s gauge of stock performance in 47 countries .MIWD00000PUS fell 2.2 percent, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 of leading regional share lost 2.1 percent.
Most sectors in Europe traded in the red, with tech stocks bearing the brunt of selling pressure after the big overnight sell-off in U.S. technology shares.
U.S. consumer prices rose less than analysts had forecast in September, reducing expectations the pace of inflation is accelerating despite a tightening labor market.
Whether the lower reading will quell expectations the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates again in December remains to be seen, said Yousef Abbasi, global market strategist at INTL FCStone in New York.
“The thing people are trying to hang their hat on is a cooler CPI read. That potentially gets us to rally,” Abbasi said.
In midday trade, Wall Street remained lower as risk-appetite showed no signs of picking up. The benchmark S&P 500 dropped below its 200-day moving average price, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped below its 100-day moving average.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 198.28 points, or 0.77 percent, to 25,400.46. The S&P 500 .SPX lost 24.93 points, or 0.89 percent, to 2,760.75 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 30.71 points, or 0.41 percent, to 7,391.34.
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Benchmark U.S. Treasury 10-year notes US10YT=RR rose 14/32 in price, pushing their yield down to 3.1724 percent.
It will take more than a daily stock market correction to stop the Fed from hiking, said George Goncalves, managing director and head of fixed income strategy at Nomura in New York.
“The market is not necessarily going to take out much from the yield path,” Goncalves said. “I don’t view this as an indication that there’s a turn in the market. I just think it’s natural to see bonds rally after a big equity move.”
The dollar index .DXY fell 0.31 percent, with the euro EUR= up 0.4 percent to $1.1564. The Japanese yen JPY= strengthened 0.01 percent versus the greenback at 112.29.
Oil prices slumped to two-week lows as global stock markets fell, with investor sentiment made more bearish by an industry report showing U.S. crude inventories rising more than expected.
U.S. crude CLcv1 fell 1.98 percent to $71.72 per barrel and Brent LCOcv1 was last at $81.30, down 2.15 percent on the day.
