Overseas Trading: Europe, Asia Slide; Nikkei Hits Bear Market

Sliding crude prices and currency concerns have led to a global sell-off

Josh Selway

Jan 20, 2016 at 8:40 AM

A day after bourses enjoyed strong data-induced gains, things turned ugly again in Asia as oil futures explored new 12-year lows beneath $28 per barrel. Most notably, Japan's Nikkei fell 3.7% to officially enter bear-market territory. Also worrying investors was a reduced global growth forecast from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on top of currency concerns, resulting in a 3.8% loss for the Hang Seng index. China's Shanghai Composite dropped just over 1%, with the People's Bank of China (PBOC) stating it plans to add over 600 billion yuan to financial markets by early next month. In South Korea, the Kospi fell by 2.3%.

The sell-off is extending to Europe, with stocks flirting with new annual lows. At last check, France's CAC 40 was off 3.3%, London's FTSE 100 was down 3.1%, and in Germany, the DAX had given back 2.9%.

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