- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Visitors to get rare view of Rome's Trevi Fountain
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
- Man Utd battling to improve fortunes, says Evans
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test
- Hurricane Milton strengthens fast, threatens Mexico, Florida
- Tunisia's President Saied set for landslide election win
- Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- Trump to open second golf course at Scotland resort in summer 2025
- Super-sub Jhon Duran rewarded with new Aston Villa deal
- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
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Stocks sink on recession fears, oil slips
World stock markets mostly sank Thursday on intensifying recession fears, while oil prices receded after an OPEC decision to proceed with only a limited boost to output.
London, Frankfurt, Paris each tumbled more than two percent in afternoon trading.
That followed a largely downbeat performance in Asia, although Shanghai rose after data showed a forecast-beating improvement in China's services sector on easing Covid restrictions.
Wall Street opened lower, with all three major indices shedding more than one percent.
Crude futures fell as major oil producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia kept to a decision on a limited boost to output despite the risk that high oil prices may help push the global economy into recession.
- 'Terrible mood' -
Stock markets are "in a terrible mood across Europe", said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
"There really is a lack of good news for investors to cling onto, and the near-term outlook looks bleak."
The threat of an extended period of elevated inflation and painful interest rate hikes has left traders fretting over the threat of a prolonged economic downturn, while the Ukraine war continues to sow uncertainty.
"Recession continues to be the primary concern at the moment... as countries continue to grapple with spiralling inflation and cost-of-living crises," said Mihir Kapadia, head of Sun Global Investments.
The surge in inflation to multi-decade highs has forced central banks to swiftly raise interest rates, dealing a hefty blow to equities as companies faces higher borrowing costs.
The Federal Reserve is next month expected to announce a successive 75-basis-point hike in US interest rates.
Sweden's central bank on Thursday announced its biggest hike in 22 years, raising its main rate by 50 basis points to 0.75 percent.
There had been hope that policymakers would ease off their hikes as economies show signs of slowing, but analysts say some officials are less concerned about a recession than letting prices run out of control.
- Risk of 'going too far' -
Fed boss Jerome Powell, speaking at a European Central Bank conference Wednesday, hinted again that such hikes could lead to economic contraction.
"Is there a risk that we would go too far? Certainly there's a risk," Powell said.
"The bigger mistake to make... would be to fail to restore price stability," he insisted.
ECB President Christine Lagarde stated this week that the guardian of the euro would go "as far as necessary" to fight inflation that was set to remain "undesirably high" for "some time to come".
US data released Thursday showed that a key annual inflation measure held steady at 6.3 percent in May, but real spending by consumers declined by 0.4 percent month-over-month.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said the decline "will fuel concerns about the Fed continuing to tighten into a slowing economic environment."
- Key figures at around 1330 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 2.2 percent at 7,152.09 points
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 2.3 percent at 12,700.48
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 2.4 percent at 5,888.82
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.7 percent at 3,445.19
New York - Dow: DOWN 1.1 percent at 30,693.74
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.5 percent at 26,393.04 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 percent at 21,859.79 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 3,398.62 (close)
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 1.1 percent at $115.01 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.5 percent at $108.16 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0413 from $1.0442 Wednesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2154 from $1.2124
Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.68 pence from 86.12 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 135.98 yen from 136.59 yen
burs/rl/lth
S.Caetano--PC