With US' ES locked limit down those looking for a hedge will be hitting bids elsewhere in other, perhaps less liquid, instruments.

Asian stocks are taking a beating today also:

  • Nikkei 225 index -6.15%
  • Hans Seng HK -3.95%
  • Shanghai Comp -2.02%
  • ASX in Australia … (caution, violent scene follows) -8.51%

US equity futures remain limit locked down. I explained what that means here earlier:

In the UK, FT 100 index futures are down more than 7%

The background to all the moves (apart from the immediate catalyst oil shock over the weekend) are:

  • fears over a global pandemic
  • fears of another credit crisis
  • concerns over poor US leadership - the world's strongest economy has leadership in denial of the health crisis