Amid that uncertainty — which has left open the prospect of early elections and the formation of another populist alliance — investors have suddenly shifted away from riskier investments like stocks and commodities and taken refuge in the relative safety of German and American government bonds, the United States dollar and the Japanese yen.

Italy’s benchmark stock index fell nearly 2.7 percent, and worried investors sold off government bonds, sending prices down and yields up. The yield on Italy’s main 10-year bond rose to its highest level in more than four years, spiking by more than a half percentage point to roughly 3.20 percent, according to data from Tradeweb, a bond trading platform.

The euro fell to its weakest value against the dollar in nearly a year, and prices for government bonds issued by other heavily indebted European countries like Spain and Portugal also tumbled on Tuesday, pushing their yields up as well.