A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – US stocks have fallen sharply, with the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index sinking more than two per cent following a gloomy outlook from a leading semiconductor company.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 115.15 points (0.69 per cent) to close Friday at 16,544.10, erasing the blue-chip index’s gains for 2014.
The broad-based S&P 500 tumbled 22.08 (1.15 per cent) to 1,906.13, while the Nasdaq slumped 102.10 (2.33 per cent) to 4,276.24.
The retreat in US stocks followed dreary action in most overseas markets amid anxiety over global growth, as the German DAX slumped 2.4 per cent and the French CAC 40 fell 1.6 per cent.
Microchip Technology, whose semiconductors are used in electronics products, sank 12.3 per cent after it slashed its revenue forecast for the upcoming quarter, due in part to poor performance in China.
LONDON – Heightened anxiety that the eurozone could slump into another recession sent European equities reeling to levels unseen for a year.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index dropped 1.43 per cent to 6,339.97 points and Frankfurt’s DAX index tumbled 2.4 per cent to 8,788.81 points to close at year lows.
Meanwhile in Paris the CAC 40 shed 1.64 per cent to 4,073.71 points, its lowest level in 2014.
Madrid lost 1.20 per cent and Milan fell 0.94 per cent.
The euro dropped to $US1.2630 from $US1.2691 late on Thursday in New York, while global oil prices came under further pressure from weakening demand growth for crude against a backdrop of a solid supply situation.
HONG KONG – Asian shares sank on growing concerns about the global economy.
Investors took their lead from a heavy sell-off on Wall Street, which wiped out the previous day’s Federal Reserve-fuelled gains. Fears of a fall-off in demand also sent oil traders fleeing, pushing Brent crude prices to a four-year low.
Tokyo on Friday tumbled 1.15 per cent, or 178.38 points, to 15,300.55, Sydney shed 2.05 per cent, or 108.38 points, to 5,188.3 and Seoul slipped 1.24 per cent, or 24.33 points, to 1,940.92.
Hong Kong shed 1.90 per cent, or 445.99 points, to 23,088.54 while Shanghai eased 0.62 per cent, or 14.83 points, to 2,374.54.
Taipei was closed for a public holiday.
WELLINGTON – The NZX 50 Index fell 40.898 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 5225.139.
