European equities slump to more than an 18-month low
Wall Street’s worst losses in eight months have triggered a surge of global selling
London — European stocks slumped to a more than an 18-month low on Thursday after Wall Street’s worst losses in eight months triggered a surge of global selling that knocked over Asia too. Losses in London, Paris and Milan were already climbing towards 2% in early trading, although the sell-off was not quite as dramatic as the overnight session in Asia. MSCI’s broadest index of Asian shares not including Japan ended down 3.6%, having struck its lowest level since March 2017. China’s main indices had slumped more than 5%. It meant MSCI’s 24-country emerging-market index was having its worst day since early 2016, after Wall Street’s swoon had given the 47-country world index equivalent its worst day since February. “Equity markets are locked in a sharp sell-off, with concern around how far yields will rise, warnings from the IMF about financial stability risks and continued trade tension all driving uncertainty,” ANZ analysts said. The sell-off, which came as International Monetary Fu...
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