Global Stock Market Meltdown Unabated

Published: 8/2/2024 8:13 AM ET | 

The sell-off in equity markets triggered by economic growth concerns that followed the weak PMI data from the U.S is continuing unabated. Renewed political tensions in the Middle East and tech sector earning updates also swayed market sentiment.

Meanwhile, markets expect a decline in non-farm payroll additions and a steady unemployment rate in data to be released from the U.S. on Friday morning.

Wall Street Futures are trading deep in the red. European benchmarks also slumped. Asian stock indexes tumbled, tracking the sell-off in Wall Street while Nikkei plunged to a 6-month low.

Dollar Index weakened. Bond prices rallied and yields eased amidst the global meltdown in stocks. Crude oil prices edged up. Gold scaled fresh highs amidst rate cut hopes. Cryptocurrencies are trading on a weak note.

Here is a snapshot of the major world markets at this hour.

Stock Indexes:

DJIA (US30) at 40,031.00, down 0.79%
S&P 500 (US500) at 5,384.30, down 1.15%
Germany’s DAX at 17,789.35, down 1.64%
U.K.’s FTSE 100 at 8,255.90, down 0.33%
France’s CAC 40 at 7,314.25, down 0.76%
Euro Stoxx 50 at 4,688.55, down 1.62%
Japan’s Nikkei 225 at 35,917.50, down 5.73%
Australia’s S&P ASX 200 at 7,943.20, down 2.11%
China’s Shanghai Composite at 2,905.34, down 0.92%
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng at 16,945.51, down 2.08%

Currencies:

EUR/USD at 1.0831, up 0.37%
GBP/USD at 1.2742, up 0.02%
USD/JPY at 149.09, down 0.18%
AUD/USD at 0.6515, up 0.26%
USD/CAD at 1.3883, up 0.07%
Dollar Index at 104.07, down 0.34%

Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:

U.S. at 3.928%, down 1.19%
Germany at 2.2010%, down 2.18%
France at 2.973%, down 0.64%
U.K. at 3.8860%, down 0.05%
Japan at 0.946%, down 1.46%

Commodities:

Brent Oil Futures (Oct) at $79.56, up 0.05%.
Crude Oil WTI Futures (Sep) at $76.34, up 0.0.04%.
Gold Futures (Dec) at $2,508.20, up 1.10%.

Cryptocurrencies:

Bitcoin at $64,660.55, up 0.23%
Ethereum at $3,153.42, down 1.08%
BNB at $573.64, up 0.22%
Solana at $164.65, down 2.76%
XRP at $0.5753, down 5.53%.