Today's Edition
London (AFP)
European and Asian stock markets retreated on Friday after a slide on Wall Street following weak US jobs data and signals that the Federal Reserve will not cut interest rates this year.
Growing worries that valuations, particularly among tech companies, are far too high following this year's blockbuster rally added to the sense of unease on trading floors.
Pressuring markets heading into the weekend pause was also weak Chinese exports data, the ongoing US government shutdown and some poorly-received earnings news, according to analysts.
A rollercoaster week looked set to end on a negative note after a report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed US layoffs hit the highest level in 22 years last month.
The report found that this year has been the worst for layoffs since 2020, when the labour market was decimated by the pandemic.
The Nasdaq shed 1.9% and S&P 500 more than one percent on Thursday, with losses extending to Asia on Friday as Tokyo and Seoul closed down more than one percent.
Losses among Europe's main markets were about half-a-percent around midday.
Investors have been forced to use private data as a guide to the state of the world's biggest economy owing to the longest-running US government shutdown that has closed numerous departments.
While the latest jobs figures came a day after news that private hiring had increased, it sparked fresh concerns about the labour market and put pressure on the Fed to cut borrowing costs for a third successive meeting in December.
However, comments from central bank officials suggested another reduction was not certain, echoing boss Jerome Powell's warning last week.
Fed Cleveland chief Beth Hammack said she remained "concerned about high inflation".
And Chicago Fed boss Austan Goolsbee told CNBC he was concerned about making decisions during the shutdown without full data.
Markets were pressured on Friday also by official data showing China's exports fell in October for the first time in eight months as trade tensions flared in the weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping and US counterpart Donald Trump reached a detente.
London's top-tier FTSE 100 index was dragged down by heavy losses to share prices of online property business Rightmove and British Airways owner IAG, which dropped 13 and eight percent respectively following earnings updates that undershot market expectations.
On the upside, British broadcaster ITV surged 15% after announcing it was in preliminary talks to sell its television and streaming business to US-owned rival Sky for £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion).
