News Desk

The Advocate Post: Stock markets across Europe and Asia tumbled on Monday, spooked by fears that the US economy is heading for a slowdown. The Euronext 100 fell by 3.5% while the FTSE 100 index opened 2.3% lower in London.

They were followed by steep declines throughout Asia, with the Nikkei 225 in Japan seeing the largest point decline in history, falling 12.4% or 4,451 points.

It comes after the US released dismal jobs data on Friday, raising questions about the greatest economy in the world. Since the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates last week, the yen has been rising vs the US dollar, increasing the cost of Tokyo stocks for overseas investors.

Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, South Korea, India, and Australia all had their stock markets crash. There have been rumors that the US economy is slowing down due to a string of less positive than anticipated economic data releases.

In contrast to other central banks like the Bank of England, the US Federal Reserve refrained from lowering interest rates last week, as significant US corporations like Amazon and Intel revealed underwhelming financial reports.

Although the unemployment rate increased slightly, official employment data for July indicated that US firms generated 114,000 new jobs, much less than anticipated.

Chief investment officer at M&G Wealth Shanti Kelemen said on the BBC’s Today program: “[There are] just a few indications that the market might be slowing down a little.

“I believe that scared a few people on Friday as well. The Japanese market was closed when that occurred, so you can see Japan’s response to what happened last week.”

At Neuberger Berman, a portfolio manager located in Tokyo, Kei Okamura stated that “the selloff was instigated by the sharp appreciation of the [yen] as global investors turned cautious on Japanese corporate earnings, especially that of exporters such as automakers” in Asia.