World stocks tumbled on Friday after weak economic data from China and Europe exacerbated worries about global growth as investors considered the broader impact of the US-China trade dispute.
Euro zone business ended the year on a weak note, expanding at the slowest pace in over four years as new order growth all but dried up, hurt by trade tensions and violent protests in France, reports Reuters citing a survey.
A separate survey showed French business activity plunged unexpectedly into contraction this month, retreating at the fastest pace in over four years in the face of the anti-government protests.
Germany’s private-sector expansion slowed to a four-year low, meanwhile, suggesting growth in Europe’s largest economy may be weak in the final quarter.
On Wall Street, US stocks were not only hampered by growth worries but by a drop in Johnson & Johnson shares.
The J&J share lost 8.23 per cent, its biggest drop in a decade, as the biggest drag on both the Dow and S&P 500 after Reuters reported that the pharma major knew that its baby powder was contaminated with cancer-causing asbestos.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 279.99 points, or 1.14 per cent, to 24,317.39, the S&P 500 lost 23.04 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 2,627.5 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 55.67 points, or 0.79 per cent, to 7,014.66.
Stock markets in Europe were also lower on the growth concerns. The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.52 per cent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.97 per cent.
Despite the weak global data, the dollar strengthened on the back of solid US data, as consumer spending gathered momentum in November.
US industrial production rebounded, further cementing expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its Dec. 18-19 meeting.
The dollar index rose 0.46 per cent, with the euro down 0.58 per cent to $1.1295.
Sterling was last trading at $1.2558, down 0.77 per cent on the day. Benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes last rose 5/32 in price to yield 2.8931 per cent, from 2.911 per cent late on Thursday.
