By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Gold jumps, dollar falls in flight to havens

U.S. stock futures were getting clobbered on Thursday, with investors fleeing anything considered a risky asset as the global market rout kicked in again.

The investment mood turned pessimistic after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen's testimony on Wednesday, a selloff in Asia and further carnage in the oil market.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 283 points, or 1.8%, to 15,583, while those for the S&P 500 index dropped 33.70 points, or 1.8% to 1,813. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index slid 87.75 points, or 2.2%, to 3,879.50.

The moves follow a late-session selloff (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-futures-up-100-points-as-markets-wait-for-yellen-to-speak-2016-02-10) on Wednesday, when the Dow average logged its longest losing streak since late August and the S&P 500 index matched its longest run of losses since November.

More Yellen: Yellen's comments to a congressional hearing Wednesday failed to instill more confidence in the market. The Fed boss acknowledged that the outlook for the U.S. economy could be affected if jitters over global economies and markets persist, but didn't take the dovish tone investors were hoping for.

Yellen will return to Capitol Hill on Thursday, when she appears before the Senate Banking Committee at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.

On the data docket, the latest reading on weekly jobless claims is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

Greenback falls: The dollar dropped sharply after the comments and continued its descent overnight. It plunged to the lowest level against the yen (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-slumps-to-lowest-level-against-yen-since-late-2014-2016-02-11) since 2014 on Thursday, sinking to Yen111.55 from Yen113.60 late Wednesday, as the renewed panic sent investors hunting for safety in the yen. Gold , also considered a haven, jumped 2.4% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-jumps-to-9-month-high-as-investors-flee-to-safe-havens-2016-02-11) to $1,222.80 an ounce.

"The fact that dollar/yen fell again sharply into the close with the losses continuing overnight is a really concerning signal, along with gold regaining the upside initiative after previously threatening a correction," said Richard Perry, market analyst at Hantec Markets, in a note.

"The bears remain in control," he added.

Read: The one stock sector you need to fight the bear-market flu (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-one-stock-sector-you-need-to-fight-the-spreading-bear-market-virus-2016-02-11)

Oil blues: Falling oil prices were also seen as fueling Thursday's global market rout. West Texas Intermediate crude oil slid 2.8% to $26.69 a barrel, flirting with its lowest level in nearly 13 years (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/crude-shrugs-off-supply-decline-pushes-below-27-a-barrel-2016-02-11).

This weighed on shares of oil-related companies, which dropped ahead of the bell. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) fell 2.9%, Transocean Ltd. (RIG) lost 2.4%, and ConocoPhillips (COP) shaved off 2.2%.

Other movers: Shares of Twitter Inc. (TWTR) lost 6.5% premarket after the social-media company late Wednesday reported flat user growth for the fourth-quarter (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/twitter-proves-wall-street-critics-were-right-2016-02-10).

On a more upbeat note, Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) jumped 6.1% after its second-quarter earnings and revenue, released late Wednesday, beat forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cisco-beats-estimates-and-raises-dividend-2016-02-10).

Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) climbed 5.4% after the luxury electric car maker said it could achieve a net profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tesla-reports-loss-but-says-profit-in-sight-2016-02-10) in the final quarter of 2016.

PepsiCo Inc. (PEP), Kellogg Co. (K) and Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) are among the companies slated to report ahead of the bell on Thursday.

After the market closes, American International Group Inc. (AIG), Pandora Media Inc. (P) and CBS Corp. (CBSA) are scheduled to release earnings.

Other markets: Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index returned to trading after the Lunar New Year with a 3.9% tumble. That helped drive a selloff at the open in Europe, where banks were hard hit. The Stoxx Europe 600 index was on track for its lowest close since October 2013 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-knocked-to-lowest-since-2013-as-fear-selling-returns-2016-02-11).

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 11, 2016 06:38 ET (11:38 GMT)