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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/855d2014-4a30-11e5-b558-8a9722977189.html#ixzz3jjypdxJKGlobal equities saw their sharpest falls since the 2008 financial crisis, as a rout in Chinese shares unleashed alarm across markets from the US to Asia and stoked mounting fears of a China-led global economic slowdown.
The S&P 500 fell 5.2 per cent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 1,000 points, or 6.5 per cent. Those moves echoed dramatic falls in Europe where the FTSE Eurofirst 300 slid 6.9 per cent, and the FTSE 100 fell 5.3 per cent, its sharpest decline since March 2009.
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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/855d2014-4a30-11e5-b558-8a9722977189.html#ixzz3jjyvACTBThe falls came after the Shanghai Composite racked up its worst day since February 2007, wiping out all its gains of 2015, in a tumultuous session that even Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, dubbed “Black Monday”.
The turmoil on global markets began two weeks ago when China unexpectedly devalued its currency, raising fears that its economy might be in worse shape than previously thought. Since then, global stock markets have lost more than $5tn in value.
With China now representing 15 per cent of the world’s economy, any slowdown there will have huge repercussions for global growth.
Jim Reid, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said the market sell-off had originally been driven by expectations that the US Federal Reserve would raise interest rates, perhaps as early as next month.
However, “China’s confrontational move two weeks ago and the subsequent knock-on through emerging markets have accelerated us towards something more serious”, Mr Reid said. “We always thought something would get in the way of the Fed raising rates in September and we’re perhaps seeing this now.”
The growing sense among investors that the Fed will put off lifting interest rates pushed up the euro, which rose 1.5 per cent against the dollar on Monday.
Worries about China’s outlook hammered crude oil, which fell to a six-year low, while average commodity prices traded at their lowest levels this century and emerging market currencies plunged. Meanwhile, haven assets such as the euro, yen and US government bonds rallied.
Monday’s fall in China partly reflected investor disappointment that Beijing had not adopted any fresh measures over the weekend to staunch the sell-off after the 11.5 per cent fall in the Shanghai Composite last week.
There had been expectations that the government might announce a fresh loosening of monetary policy, perhaps reducing the proportion of deposits that banks need to hold in reserve.
But Beijing appears to have decided that it is too expensive to prop up the equity market, especially as it is now intervening separately on a massive scale to stop its currency from devaluing further.
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The authorities have already spent $200bn buying up shares to support prices over the last seven weeks. In addition, since August 11 they have spent as much as $200bn of China’s foreign exchange reserves to keep the renminbi from falling too far, according to people familiar with the People’s Bank of China and its market interventions.
Investors had thought that Beijing would defend the Shanghai Composite’s 3,500 level. But that floor was breached in the first second of trading on Monday, and the index carried on tanking until it was down 9 per cent at 3,191, its lowest level since March. The index ended the session down 8.5 per cent at 3,209.
The market has a downward limit of 10 per cent on individual stocks, so Monday’s rout was about as close to a freefall as China allows. Of the 1,114 stocks listed in Shanghai, nearly 900 were down by more than 9.9 per cent. Just five rose.
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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/855d2014-4a30-11e5-b558-8a9722977189.html#ixzz3jjyzBB3dThe price of West Texas Intermediate oil, the US benchmark, fell $1.93 to $38.55 a barrel — its lowest since February 2009. Brent crude, the global benchmark, retreated $2.25 to $43.27 a barrel, a level last seen in March 2009.
Countries that rely on exports to China saw their currencies come under pressure. The Australian and New Zealand dollars fell 1.3 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively, to $0.7220 and $0.6567.
Futures suggest the S&P 500 will decline 2.5 per cent in New York.
“Caution remains warranted,” said analysts at Crédit Agricole. “Currencies such as the euro are likely to remain well supported, at least until monetary policy expectations become a more dominant market driver anew.”
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