European stocks slid, following a retreat in Asia, amid growing concerns about a slowdown in China and policy makers’ steps to address it. The dollar advanced as the Federal Reserve stayed on track for a December rate hike. Mining and energy shares led a drop in Europe’s main equity gauge after crude oil entered a bear market. Futures contracts pointed to second day of declines for U.S. stocks. Equities in Hong Kong and China led losses in Asia, with financial shares doing particularly poorly following news that Beijing plans to set quotas for banks to pump credit into private companies. Treasury yields edged lower.
Softer Chinese producer-price gains, weak car sales and a disappointing outlook from a top online travel company combined to reignite lingering concerns about the health of the world’s second-biggest economy. That’s capturing investor attention after a Fed rate meeting on Thursday that offered few surprises, with policymakers repeating their outlook for “further gradual” increases. Meanwhile, the offshore yuan held this week’s drop, amid little sign of an end to the U.S.-China trade war in the wake of the midterm elections. The pound weakened and gilts gained amid ongoing speculation over a potential Brexit deal. Emerging-market stocks and currencies slid.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dipped 0.5 percent as of 9:22 a.m. London time, the largest decrease in two weeks. Futures on the S&P 500 Index fell 0.4 percent, the biggest fall in a week. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 1.1 percent. The MSCI Emerging Market Index sank 1.5 percent to the lowest in more than a week on the biggest tumble in more than two weeks. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.2 percent to 1,206.62, the highest in more than a week. The euro declined 0.2 percent to $1.1337, the weakest in more than a week.
