A global stock rout is deepening with investors fleeing to safe havens

Investors on Monday turned to safe-haven assets as a global stock sell-off deepened, following weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data at the end of last week.

The disappointing jobs report spurred investor fears that the Federal Reserve made a mistake last week when it kept interest rates unchanged, and that the world's largest economy is headed toward a recession.

The stock sell-off has also been exacerbated by volatility in some of the major earnings and a more hawkish Bank of Japan, which has led to speculation that the popular yen "carry trade" has imploded over a short-term basis. A "carry trade" takes place when investor borrows in a currency with low interest rates, such as the yen, and reinvests the proceeds in a currency with a higher rate of return.

On Monday morning, the Swiss franc strengthened up to 1.2% against the dollar to trade at 0.847 against the greenback, its strongest level since January this year.

U.S. Treasury yields, which move inversely to prices, extended their fall to notch a one-year low. At 5:45 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was down by five basis points to 3.741%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last trading at 3.7704% after falling by 10 basis points. The yield on Japan's 10-year government bond meanwhile plunged 20 basis points to 0.763%.

Gold futures, initially higher, had cooled by mid-morning in Europe to a 0.06% decline.

The buying was in sharp contrast to the selling seen in the stock markets. U.S. stock futures fell early Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures declining by some 600 points, or roughly 1.5%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures dropped 2.7% and 4.45%, respectively.

Japan stocks confirmed a bear market in Asia overnight. The 12.4% loss on the Nikkei —