Kiyoshi Ishigane, chief fund manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management, said: 'I didn't expect stocks to fall this much. 'This is probably because there are concerns that the US economy will collapse in a big way, which is the most unpleasant pattern for Japanese stocks.'
José Torres, a senior economist at Interactive Brokers, said: 'The short-lived satisfaction of Fed Chief Powell communicating decent odds of a September rate cut has turned sour as investors are now panicking that the central bank isn´t trimming soon enough.'
Shares across the world tumbled Friday - as investors panicked over signs of weakness in the US economy.
🔴🔵🟡 U.S. STOCK MARKET IS COLLAPSING LIKE OLYMPICS IN THE FRANCE 🇺🇲🇫🇷
— SVS NEWS AGENCY (@svsnewsagency) August 2, 2024
Over $2.9 trillion have wiped out this morning due to growing fears of a global recession 🥶 pic.twitter.com/mz1Ppt6DkZ
The S&P 500 was sinking by 2.5 percent in midday trading, on pace for its worst day since 2022. The Dow Jones was down 954 points, or 2.4 percent.
At one point in the morning, the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down 3.2 percent, meaning it has lost more than 10 percent from a record high on July 11.
The tailspins were sparked by a dire jobs report on Friday morning. Unemployment in July rose to the highest level since October 2021 - suggesting the US economy is sputtering and raising fears of a recession.
Even before that report, stock markets in Europe, China and Japan in particular had plunged.
