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London - Europe's main stock markets and Wall Street fell on Wednesday, with mining shares hit hard by renewed worries over China's economic outlook, analysts said.
In New York, traders said that investors were also concerned about tensions over the situation in Ukraine.
London's FTSE 100 sank 1.01% to 6 618 points in afternoon deals in the British capital.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed 1.49% to 9 169 points and in Paris the CAC 40 slipped 1.56% to 4 282 compared with Tuesday's closing values.
In New York, the Dow Jones index opened with a fall of 0.29% after shedding 0.41% on Tuesday, and the Nasdaq index was down 0.44% having fallen 0.63% the previous day.
"Deteriorating credit conditions in China are weighing on market sentiment," said analyst David Madden at trading firm IG.
"Mining stocks have gone from bad to worse. There is speculation that the People's Bank of China will loosen monetary policy."
Europe's mining sector took a major hit because China is a key consumer of metals.
In London, Glencore Xstrata shares slid 2.54% to 305.3 pence and Anglo American dropped 1.50% to 1 414 pence.
In Paris, global steelmaker Arcelor Mittal saw its share price fall 1.76% to €10.86.
Asian equities also sank on Wednesday, taking their lead from another sell-off on Wall Street, while Tokyo took a hit as the yen climbed against the dollar.
Despite a small pick-up on Tuesday, regional markets followed Wall Street's cues from Tuesday in the wake of the weekend's worse-than-expected trade and inflation data from China and a downward revision to Japanese economic growth in 2013.
Tokyo tumbled 2.59% and Sydney fell 0.55%, while Seoul shed 1.60%.
Shanghai ended down 0.17% and Hong Kong retreated 1.65% in value.
"Renewed concerns on a China slowdown took to Asian markets," added Spreadex analyst Lee Mumford.
"The price of gold surged as investors took to the precious metal in search of safe haven assets whilst copper traded near its lowest level since 2010."
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold rallied to $1 355.77 an ounce from $1,346.25 on Tuesday.
The European single currency eased to $1.3862 from $1.3863 late in New York the day before.
The dollar rose to ¥102.76 from ¥102.95.
"A severe lack of news or data leaves investors still focusing on the apparent slowdown in China and the ongoing crisis in the Ukraine," added Alpari analyst Craig Erlam.
With few catalysts to drive business, trade was thin, causing choppiness, dealers said - while focus turned to the Federal Reserve's next policy meeting next week.
Global shares tumbled after Beijing said on Saturday that it had an unexpected trade deficit of $22.98bn in February.
The figure compared with a surplus of $14.8bn in the same month last year, and a median forecast of an $11.9bn surplus. Exports fell 18.1% and imports jumped 10.1%.
The data add to growing worries about the Chinese economy, with the latest surveys on the key manufacturing sector showing weakness.
Investors meanwhile remained on alert over simmering tensions in Ukraine.
The Group of Seven (G7) most developed economies is calling on Russia to stop all efforts to "annex" Ukraine's Crimea region, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Wednesday.
G7 leaders, European Council head Hermann Van Rompuy "and I will in a new declaration call on Russia to cease all efforts to annex Ukraine's autonomous republic of Crimea," Barroso said.
Russia has tightened its hold on the Crimea, home to a large Russian-speaking population and the base for its Black Sea fleet.
The G7 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States.
In London, Capital Economics commented that "the crisis in Ukraine has unsettled the markets, but the economic fallout should be contained to the two countries directly involved - Ukraine and Russia."
