European markets lower amid global sell-off; technology, financial stocks tumble

LONDON — European stocks extended losses on Friday amid a global downturn, as weak U.S. economic data sparked fears of a recession. The regional Stoxx 600 index was down 1.8% at 11:11 a.m. U.K. time. Technology stocks dropped 4.17%, as U.S. giant Intel fell more than 21% in premarket trade after reporting a big earnings miss. Global markets have been pulled lower by a flurry of central bank action — with the Bank of England cutting interest rates for the first time since 2020, the U.S. Federal Reserve holding rates and the Bank of Japan raising them this week — along with shaky corporate earnings and data releases. The Stoxx 600 on Thursday suffered its worst session since the middle of June, weighed down by financials as French bank Societe Generale downgraded its outlook, and the BOE voted to reduce rates. Financial services were down another 3.9% Friday, as banks fell 2.4%. The Thursday decision took the British central bank’s key interest rate from 5.25% to 5%, following a narrow 5-4 vote among policymakers. Markets had not been fully convinced that the BOE would take the step. BOE Governor Andrew Bailey told CNBC that the direction for interest rates was “pretty clear,” but he would not comment on the extent or timing of further cuts and said services inflation and wage data would be watched closely. Market pricing suggests expectations for a rate hold in September, followed by another rate trim in November. U.S. stock markets tumbled on Thursday, as jitters grew around the state of the economy. Weekly initial jobless claims came in higher than expected, while manufacturing data slowed. More information will be added to the U.S. economic picture on Friday, as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the nonfarm payrolls report, while Europe is quiet on the data front. Asia-Pacific markets logged steep losses Friday, with Japan’s benchmark indexes tanking as much as 5%. Cedric Chehab, global head of country risk at BMI, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” that a U.S.-led sell-off started a week and a half ago but escalated in the middle of this week. That was due to factors including the hawkish Bank of Japan imploding the popular yen carry trade in the short term, weak U.S. data and volatility in earnings. “But one thing people aren’t remembering is that usually between the period of July and October there is a seasonal rise in volatility for equity markets, so this isn’t completely unexpected,” Chehab said. “Especially after the fact that there was such a large rally in U.S. stocks and global stocks, the fact that earnings came in a bit mixed and valuations are high, but also monetary policy remains very tight in real terms,” he added.