Asian, European mkts drop

FE Team | Published: May 19, 2022 23:43:58

HONG KONG, May 19 (AFP): Markets in Europe and Asia posted losses Thursday, after Wall Street suffered one of its worst batterings in two years.
Downcast earnings reports from retailers had exacerbated worries about consumer resilience and corporate profitability Wednesday, sparking a rough day's trade.
Hong Kong slumped 2.5 percent, while Tokyo closed down by 1.89 percent.
Among the biggest losers in Hong Kong were Chinese tech giants after Tencent reported lacklustre profits, fuelling wider concerns for a grim earnings season as China's economic outlook worsens.
Tencent plunged more than eight percent in early trading before paring losses slightly, a day after it posted its slowest revenue gain since going public in 2004.
Alibaba dropped more than six percent, while Baidu and Xiaomi were also down.
Elsewhere in the region, Australia posted its lowest jobless rate in 48 years, in a potential boost to Prime Minister Scott Morrison two days ahead of a tightly contested federal election.
The unemployment rate dipped to 3.9 percent, the official statistics body said, the lowest rate since 1974.
But stocks in Sydney were still down, as were those in Singapore, Seoul and Taipei.
Jakarta and Shanghai eked out small gains.
Europe's main stock markets opened lower too. London's benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 0.8 percent, while Frankfurt lost 1.5 percent and Paris shed 1.4 percent.
Retailer woes
"Sentiment... is highly negative as traders and investors are largely concerned about an economic downturn and soaring inflation," said AvaTrade analyst Naeem Aslam.
Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management called Wednesday's losses "the most significant daily decline since June 2020".
"The weakness came as Target's quarterly earnings added fuel to the recession risk narrative," he added.