Europe’s main bourses were down around 2.5% and Wall Street futures pointed to more losses too as “fear gauges” of market volatility leapt to their highest level since a surprise devaluation of China’s currency in 2015.
Europe’s drop sent the region’s STOXX 600 to its lowest level in six months while the losses for MSCI’s widely tracked 47-country world index broke $4 trillion as its drop since Friday neared 8%.
The flashing warning signs left investors with little option but to seek traditional refuges such as gold and the dollar. Benchmark government bonds—ironically one of the initial triggers for the selloff—also gained, Reuters reported.
Commodities remained gloomy too, with oil and industrial metals all tumbling backwards as the year’s stellar start for risk assets rapidly soured. The equity market selloff had been viewed by some as a healthy correction after a rapid run up over the last year, but as it snowballed through Asia and Europe and looked to be on its way back to Wall Street, nerves were starting to fray.
Wall Street’s Dow Jones and S&P 500 benchmarks had slumped 4.6% and 4.1% on Monday, their biggest drops since August 2011. It was also the Dow’s biggest fall on a pure points basis of all-time and put it in the red for 2018.
