Eurozone inflation fell to negative 0.2% in April
Asian markets fell today, as
the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) policy decision and
a shocking announcement from activist investor Carl Icahn prompted an overnight sell-off in U.S. stocks. Hong Kong's Hang Seng led the path lower, shedding 1.5% amid drops in energy and property stocks. Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi gave back 0.3%, while China's Shanghai Composite settled at a 0.2% loss. While Japan's Nikkei was closed for holiday, the yen continued its rise against the U.S. dollar.
European stocks are sharply lower at midday, as stocks react to a freshly released batch of economic reports. Specifically, first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) for the eurozone rose by a more-than-expected 0.6%, while the unemployment rate for the currency bloc fell to 10.2% in March -- its lowest level since 2011. Additionally, eurozone inflation dropped to negative 0.2% in April. Against this backdrop, the French CAC 40 is off 1.7% -- even after first-quarter GDP beat the consensus estimate -- the German DAX is down 1.3%, and London's FTSE 100 is 0.6% lower.
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