LONDON - Global markets took a beating on Thursday after Wall Street suffered one of its worst batterings in two years over recession fears after decades-high inflation.
"Inflation is catching up and profit margins are taking a hit. Soon enough though, those higher costs will continue to be passed on and consumers will stop dipping into savings and start being more careful with their spending," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.The Nasdaq and Dow fell around 1% in early trade while European markets were down around 2% in afternoon deals after leading Asian indices closed in the red.
Tencent shares plunged more than 8% in early trading before paring losses slightly, a day after it posted its slowest revenue gain since going public in 2004."Sentiment... is highly negative as traders and investors are largely concerned about an economic downturn and soaring inflation," said AvaTrade analyst Naeem Aslam.