By Ellie Ismailidou and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Gold jumps; Treasury yields tumble to multiyear lows; dollar falls amid flight to safety

U.S. stock futures pointed to sharp losses on Thursday, as cautious investors fled global equities and other assets viewed as risky.

Oil prices plunged amid tumbling global equities, while demand for so-called haven assets like gold and government bonds surged. The 10-year Treasury yield , the Treasury market's benchmark, plunged to its lowest level in 3 1/2 years, while gold , also considered a haven, jumped 3.4% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-jumps-to-9-month-high-as-investors-flee-to-safe-havens-2016-02-11).

Analysts called Thursday's selloff a repeat of the same risk-off theme fueled by fears of economic slowdown that has been rattling global markets since the beginning of the year.

"It's a global cocktail that continues to be crafted on a daily basis [including] worries about negative interest rates coupled with pain in the banking sector and falling crude oil signaling deflation," said Michael Antonelli, equity sales trader at R.W Baird & Co.This

Investors' pessimism was heightened by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen's testimony, who on Wednesday didn't take the dovish tone investors were hoping for (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yellen-says-financial-conditions-less-supportive-to-growth-2016-02-10).

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average skidded 271 points, or 1.7%, to 15,595, while those for the S&P 500 index dropped 31 points, or 1.7% to 1,816. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index slid 64 points, or 1.6%, to 3,903.

Thursday's 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 the outlook for the U.S. economy could be hurt if jitters over global economies and markets persist and signaled the next interest-rate increase may be postponed. However, she 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.

Read:Bond market, Yellen face off on negative interest rates (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bond-market-yellen-face-off-on-negative-interest-rates-2016-02-10)

On the data docket, the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits in early February fell to the lowest level (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/low-jobless-claims-show-no-sign-of-rising-layoffs-2016-02-11)in almost two months, a reassuring sign that few workers are losing their jobs despite a slowdown in hiring.

Greenback falls: The dollar dropped sharply Wednesday after Yellen's 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 as low as Yen111.01 from Yen113.60 late Wednesday, as the renewed panic sent investors hunting for safety in the yen.

"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 below $27 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 1.6%, Transocean Ltd. (RIG) lost 3.3%, and ConocoPhillips (COP) shaved off 2.6%.

The Velocity Shares 3X Long Crude ETN (UWTI) sank 6%.

Other movers: Shares of Twitter Inc. (TWTR) lost 5.5% 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 5.5% 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 4.3% 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) slipped 1.2% as the company issued a soft outlook (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pepsico-profit-up-31-but-outlook-is-soft-2016-02-11).

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 09:14 ET (14:14 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.