European equity markets look set for another rough day as the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.52%, German DAX futures were down 0.63% while FTSE futures were 0.51% lower.
Asian stocks also slid on Thursday, tracking a steep Wall Street selloff, as investors worried about global inflation, China’s zero-COVID policy and the Ukraine war, while the safe-haven dollar eased.
Nasdaq futures eased 0.15%, although S&P500 futures reversed earlier losses to be 0.05% higher.
Overnight on Wall Street, retail giant Target Corp (TGT.N) warned of a bigger margin hit due to rising costs as it reported its quarterly profit had halved. Its shares plunged 24.88%. The Nasdaq fell almost 5% while the S&P 500 lost 4%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) snapped four days of gains and slumped 1.8%, dragged down by a 1.5% loss for Australia’s resource-heavy index (.AXJO), a 2.1% drop in Hong Kong stocks (.HSI) and a 0.3% retreat in mainland China’s bluechips (.CSI300).
Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) shed 1.7%.
Tech giants listed in Hong Kong (.HSTECH) were hit particularly hard, with the index falling more than 3%. Tencent (0700.HK) sank more than 6% after it reported no revenue growth in the first quarter, its worst performance since going public in 2004.
Meanwhile, China’s technology sector is still reeling from a year-long government crackdown and slowing economic prospects stemming from Beijing’s strict zero-COVID policy, even though soothing comments from Vice Premier Liu He to tech executives had buoyed sentiment on Wednesday.
Also, Oil prices recovered from early losses, as lingering fears over tight global supplies outweighed fears over slower economic growth.
Brent crude rose 1.2% to $110.41 per barrel, while U.S. crude was up 0.8% to $110.48 a barrel.
Gold was slightly lower. Spot gold was traded at $1814.88 per ounce.
Reuters/Hauwa Abu
