- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
Global stocks down, euro slumps over growth and inflation worries
World equities mostly fell Thursday and the euro hit a five-year dollar low as investors worried about growth amid stubborn inflation and rising interest rates.
Frankfurt, London and Paris stock markets each sank following heavy falls in Asia.
Meanwhile, Wall Street was mostly lower in late morning trading, with the Dow down 0.3 percent.
Panic-stricken investors also sent virtual unit bitcoin tumbling to the lowest level since late 2020 after a dramatic collapse in some stablecoin cryptocurrencies.
Oil prices pushed higher as investors focused on supply issues.
- 'Sticky inflation' worries -
Data released Wednesday showed US inflation slowed to 8.3 percent in April after a four-decade peak of 8.5 percent in March, but that was less than what experts had forecast and prompted concerns inflation will remain high.
Wednesday's stock trading is "pointing to a market that is becoming more concerned about slowing growth, and sticky inflation, aka rising stagflation and, or recession risk", according to analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.
The dollar has gotten a boost, both as the greenback is seen as a haven in uncertain times and as the US Federal Reserve has taken the lead in raising interest rates in the face of surging inflation.
The dollar is currently at a two-decade high against a trade-weighted index of rival currencies, and on Thursday the euro slumped to a five-year dollar low at $1.0389.
"Given the combination of a relatively hawkish monetary policy stance and a dollar-positive global backdrop, we expect the dollar to grind higher against nearly all developed and emerging market currencies over the course of the Fed's current tightening cycle," said analysts at Capital Economics.
Interest rates are being hiked worldwide to tackle decades-high inflation, which is fuelled mostly by rocketing energy costs.
Both raising prices and borrowing costs threaten to halt growth in many countries, however.
London's stock market was slammed Thursday also by news that the UK economy shrank in March on fallout from soaring inflation, increasing the prospect of a recession -- or two quarters of contraction in a row.
The data sent the pound sliding to a May 2020 low at $1.2166.
World markets have been volatile for much of 2022 owing to China's Covid-19 lockdowns, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and as surging inflation weighed on consumer sentiment.
Cryptocurrency trading has also been dampening investor sentiment after two so-called stablecoins proved to be anything but. Supposedly pegged to the dollar, both TerraUSD and Tether saw the values collapse.
"The worry is that there will be a spillover to other risk assets like stocks, which could be treated as a source of funds to meet margin calls or which could simply be subjected to an exacerbation of the negative sentiment that has had a vice grip on the market for most of the year," said market analyst Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com.
Bitcoin slumped below $27,000, before recovering to stand down around 6 percent at $29,091.39.
- Key figures at around 1630 GMT -
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 31,729.22 points
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.9 percent at 3,613.43
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.6 percent at 7,233.34 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.6 percent at 13,739.64 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.0 percent at 6,206.26 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.2 percent at 19,380.34 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,054.99 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.8 percent at 25,748.72 (close)
Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.8 percent at $108.34 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.2 percent at $107.00 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0413 from $1.0513 at 2100 GMT Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2228 from $1.2251
Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.18 pence from 85.81 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 128.23 yen from 129.97 yen
burs-lcm/rl/har
J.Oliveira--PC