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Sydney - Equities in Europe and Asia fell after a selloff in technology shares spooked investors, who have been left assessing the threat to earnings growth for the industry that propelled last year’s rally.
The yen slipped and 10-year US Treasury yields consolidated below 2.8%.
Stocks retreated across the board in both regions, with technology companies and miners setting the pace. On Tuesday American tech shares suffered their worst drop since the February rout as investors were rattled by bad news from companies including Nvidia and Facebook.
The British pound edged higher following a report on plans to avoid a post-Brexit hard border with Ireland. The yen declined amid signs of an improving geopolitical situation with North Korea.
Concerns over trade tensions, sparked by President Donald Trump’s protectionist moves, have further stoked volatility that flared in early February amid high valuations and tighter liquidity.
The Trump administration is mulling a crackdown on Chinese investments in technologies the US considers sensitive, the latest step in his plan to punish China for violations of intellectual-property rights.
Meanwhile, Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify before the US House Energy and Commerce Committee as lawmakers grow increasingly concerned about privacy protection in the technology industry.
Elsewhere, oil extended a drop for a third day amid signs a global glut may persist.
Here’s a list of the main events coming up this week:
The big four euro-area economies are due to release March CPI readings this week. US personal income and spending data for February are due to be released on Thursday. The Treasury will probably auction about $294bn of bills and notes this week, its largest slate of supply ever.
And these are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.7% as of 8:10 am London time. The MSCI All-Country World Index dipped 0.4%. The UK’s FTSE 100 Index declined 0.5%. Germany’s DAX Index sank 0.7%.
Futures on the S&P 500 Index climbed 0.2%. The MSCI Emerging Market Index decreased 1.2% to the lowest in six weeks.
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed less than 0.05%. The euro dipped less than 0.05% to $1.2401. The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.4167. The Japanese yen sank 0.3% to 105.63 per dollar, the weakest in a week.
The South Korean Won declined less than 0.05% to 1 070.74 per dollar.
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed less than one basis point to 2.78%. Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 1.394%, the lowest in two months. Germany’s 10-year yield dipped one basis point to 0.50%, reaching the lowest in 11 weeks on its fifth straight decline.
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.7% to $64.82 a barrel. Gold decreased 0.2% to $1 341.81 an ounce. Copper declined 0.7% to $2.98 a pound.
