Europe’s key stock indexes were all trading in negative territory Wednesday as unwelcome news stemming from the coronavirus pandemic continues.
London’s FTSE, the CAC-40 in Paris and Frankfurt’s DAX indexes were all trading more than 3% lower by mid-morning. The region’s losses followed major losses in Asia, led by Japan’s Nikkei index, which declined more than 850 points, or 4.5% of its value.
Investors pulled back after new data revealed Japan’s biggest slowdown in manufacturing activity in nearly a decade.
Elsewhere in Asia, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost just over 2% at the end of Wednesday’s session, while the Shanghai index on mainland China lost more than one-half of one percent.
Australia’s S&P/ASX index proved to be the region’s lone bright spot, gaining 3.5% Wednesday.
The bad day in Asia was a spillover from Tuesday’s losses on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ all falling one percent or more. The Dow’s quarter ended with its worst three-month period since 1987, losing 23% of its value. The S&P lost over 20% for the period, its worst quarterly showing in more than a decade.
