European stock markets close lower, US extends losses

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) – European stocks closed lower Wednesday as the strong selloff in the US that started on previous day continues to rattle global markets.

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, fell 5 points, or 1.06%, to close at 467.87.

London's FTSE 100 was down 53 points, or 0.75%, to 7,095, while Germany's DAX 30 was the worst performer by shedding 232 points, or 1.47%, to 15,610.

France's CAC 40 was off 57 points, or 0.85%, to end the day at 6,688 points. Italy's Borsa Italiana FTSE MIB 30 was down 196 points, or 0.75%, to 25,876.

Spain's IBEX 35 also fell 55 points, or 0.63%, to close at 8,838.

- Asian stock markets

Major stock markets in Asia closed the day mixed, with only Asia Dow and Japan posting daily gains.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, gained 9 points, or 0.23%, to end at 4,044 points.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange soared 265 points, or 0.89%, to 30,181, amid revised government data on the second quarter GDP growth rate of 1.9%, which beat initial estimate of a 1.3% increase.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, fell 32.7 points, or 0.12%, to 26,320.

China's Shanghai stock exchange decreased 1.4 points, or 0.04%, to 3,675 points.

- Major indices in US

After a weak start to the day, major indices in the US extended their losses.

The Dow Jones was down 68 points, or 0.2%, to 35,031 at 12.36 p.m. EDT (1636GMT), while the S&P 500 fell 8, or 0.18%, to 4,511. The Nasdaq was down 100 points, or 0.65%, to 15,274.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, was at 18.46 with a 1.8% increase. The dollar index was up 0.1% to 92.61.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes, on the other hand, was down 1.4% to 1.351%.

Precious metals failed to recover with gold falling 0.1% to $1,791 per ounce and silver declining 1.2% to $24.

The price of Brent crude was at $72.65 per barrel with a 1.3% gain. West Texas Intermediate rose 1.5% to $69.39.