A man walks past an electronic board showing Hong Kong share index outside a local bank in Hong Kong, Monday, Feb. 5, 2018. Asian shares opened sharply lower on Monday, extending global stock losses after Wall Street's big selloff as investor anxiety grows over rising bond yields and disappointing quarterly earnings.
A man walks past an electronic board showing Hong Kong share index outside a local bank in Hong Kong, Monday, Feb. 5, 2018. Asian shares opened sharply lower on Monday, extending global stock losses after Wall Street's big selloff as investor anxiety grows over rising bond yields and disappointing quarterly earnings. Vincent Yu AP Photo
A man walks past an electronic board showing Hong Kong share index outside a local bank in Hong Kong, Monday, Feb. 5, 2018. Asian shares opened sharply lower on Monday, extending global stock losses after Wall Street's big selloff as investor anxiety grows over rising bond yields and disappointing quarterly earnings. Vincent Yu AP Photo

National Business

World shares extend global losses after Wall Street's rout

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer

February 05, 2018 04:08 AM

HONG KONG

Asian and European shares fell Monday, extending global stock losses after Wall Street's big sell off on deepening investor anxiety over rising bond yields and disappointing quarterly earnings.

KEEPING SCORE: European stock indexes fell in early trading. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 1.2 percent to 7,354.38 and France's CAC 40 slid 1.0 percent to 5,310.59. Germany's DAX shed 0.8 percent to 12,677.69. Wall Street was poised to open lower. Dow futures were down 0.5 percent to 25,302.00 and broader S&P 500 futures retreated 0.3 percent to 2,749.00.

SELL OFF: Market jitters spread after the U.S. stock market had its worst session in two years on Friday, fueled by worries about inflation and rising Treasury yields. The strong start to 2018 after the record-setting performances of 2017 has raised concerns markets were overdue for a correction. A U.S. report showing job growth above expectations provided the catalyst for the sell-off, stoking speculation the Federal Reserve will need to raise its key interest rate faster than expected to counter inflation. Higher bond yields make it more expensive for companies to borrow and make bonds more attractive to investors than stocks.

MARKET INSIGHT: "The trigger point was the U.S. and the interest rate fears," said Jackson Wong, an associate director at Huarong International Securities. He said many of his firm's clients were taking the sell off as a chance to load up on shares like Chinese internet company Tencent. "Absolutely, it's just a correction. No one is talking about the end of the bull market."

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ASIA'S DAY: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 tumbled 2.6 percent to 22,682.08 and South Korea's Kospi shed 1.3 percent to 2,491.75. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index sank 1.1 percent to 32,245.22 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.6 percent to 6,026.20. Benchmarks in Taiwan and Southeast Asia also lost ground. Only mainland Chinese shares showed signs of life, with the Shanghai Composite reversing early losses to climb 0.7 percent to 3,487.50.

ENERGY: Oil futures extended losses. Benchmark U.S. crude slid 64 cents to $64.81 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 35 cents to settle at $65.45 a barrel on Friday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 56 cents to $67.02 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar weakened to 109.83 yen from 110.14 yen in late trading Friday. The euro rose to $1.2460 from $1.2458.

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