European stock markets fell Wednesday, following the sharp selloff seen on Wall Street overnight as growth concerns weighed heavily on the market-leading tech giants.
At 03:05 ET (07:05 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 1.1% lower, the CAC 40 in France fell 0.9% and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. dropped 0.8%.
Weak U.S. growth concerns weigh heavily
The main European indices weakened Wednesday, following on from losses in Asia and after growth concerns drove the steepest selloff in a month on Wall Street overnight as U.S. investors returned from their Labor Day holiday.
The equity selloff was fueled by weak U.S. manufacturing data that exacerbated concerns over the economic outlook.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.5%, the S&P 500 fell 2.1%, its worst day since early August, and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 3.3%, weighed by a 9% drop in Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), the chipmaker’s biggest one-day drop ever, wiping out $279 billion in market cap.
The disappointing U.S. ISM manufacturing survey raised concerns over a potential hard landing for the U.S. economy, and brought Friday’s official jobs report sharply into focus.
Eurozone services in focus
Back in Europe, Wednesday’s main data release will be the final services purchasing managers’ index figures across Europe, and the eurozone number in particular.
The services sector is expected to remain in healthy expansion territory, but this follows from weak August manufacturing activity data, which suggested a recovery in the eurozone could be some way off and a further loosening of monetary policy could be warranted.
The European Central Bank cut interest rates in June and is expected to reduce interest rates again later this month.
Volvo (OTC: VLVLY) to deliver flagship SUV this month
In the corporate sector, Volvo (ST: VOLVb) stock fell 1.2% despite the Swedish automaker saying it will deliver its flagship EX90 SUV to the first customers before the end of this month after it had experienced extensive delays.
Barratt Developments (LON: BDEV) stock fell 1.3% after the housebuilder reported a slump in profits and a halving of its dividend as it looks to complete its deal to buy rival Redrow.
Crude retreats again
Crude prices slipped lower Wednesday, extending the previous session’s selloff, on growth concerns as well as expectations that Libyan exports could reenter the market.
By 03:05 ET, the Brent contract dropped 0.8% to $73.20 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 0.9% lower at $69.72 per barrel after both contracts dropped more than 4% on Tuesday.
Both contracts fell to their lowest since December on signs of a deal to resolve the political dispute between rival factions in Libya that cut output by about half and curbed exports
