Global stocks on Monday suffered their worst one-day decline since the early months of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, as investors fret about signs of slowdowns in the world’s large economies at a time when central banks are reining in crisis-era stimulus measures.
The FTSE All-World barometer of global equities dropped 3 per cent, its sharpest fall since June 2020, and hit its lowest level since December 2020.
Worries over rising rates have been compounded by indications that growth in big global economies could be slowing. Chinese export growth fell to its lowest level in two years last month, according to data released on Monday, which followed reports last week pointing to slowdowns in the German and French manufacturing sectors.
Wall Street’s blue-chip S&P 500 index slid 3.2 per cent and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.3 per cent. Europe’s regional Stoxx 600 index fell 2.9 per cent, while China’s CSI 300 fell 0.8 per cent and Tokyo’s Topix fell 2 per cent.
Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, dropped almost 6 per cent to $105.94 a barrel, reflecting concerns about weaker demand.
Natural gas futures fell even more steeply than crude oil, with the Henry Hub front-month contract down more than 12 per cent in the US afternoon, to just over $7 per million British thermal units.
US government bonds initially came under selling pressure on Monday, pushing the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note above 3.2 per cent. Yields rise when prices fall. However, the debt rallied later in the day, bringing the yield down to around 3.03 per cent, down 0.1 percentage points for the day.
Read more on the day’s market moves here.
Credit: Source link
