Global market selloff gathers pace as Japan’s Nikkei plunges again – business live

Global market selloff gathers pace as Japan’s Nikkei plunges again – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

Fears of further market turmoil deepen after US economic data spooked investorsAsian stock markets tumble after US data fans recession fears

Worries about economic growth are hitting the oil price too.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, has dropped by 1.1% or nearly a dollar per barrel to $75.91/barrel, the lowest since January.

The markets are in meltdown and it’s a sea of red across the world. There are a lot of moving parts, but this is the essence of things: a looming slowdown in the US economy has cast doubts about global economic growth. The move has triggered a sell-off in the US Dollar and a rally in the Yen, the latter of which was boosted by the BOJ’s decision to tighten policy last week and a subsequent short-squeeze.

The rapid move in the Yen is putting downward pressure on Japanese equities, but it’s also driving an unwind of a major carry trade—investors had leveraged up by borrowing in Yen to buy other assets, chiefly US tech stocks. We are basically seeing a mass deleveraging as investors sell assets to fund their losses.

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