The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that escalating tensions over Greenland and a massive sell-off in Japanese government bonds shattered global market calm on Tuesday, sending stock markets sharply lower, pushing up bond yields and driving investors toward safe havens such as gold. The Globe's Andrew Galbraith and Mark Rendell write that the S&P 500 Index fell 2 per cent, while the S&P/TSX composite fell 1 per cent. A sell-off in U.S. Treasuries pushed 10-year yields to their highest levels since September, while the 30-year yield touched a four-month high. (Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.) The surge in market volatility came one day ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's appearance at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where he is expected to continue pushing for American possession of Greenland, even at the risk of a full-blown trade war with the European Union. This geopolitical uncertainty mixed with investor concern about the sustainability of Japanese government debt that caused Japanese bond yields to soar this week, rippling out through global markets. Gold moved above $4,700 an ounce as Mr. Trump doubled down on his Greenland threats.