Stocks in the doldrums as euro founders on recession fears

SINGAPORE : The euro huddled at a two-decade low on Thursday and oil nursed losses as investors fretted about a looming recession, while equities were caught between growth worries and relief that a slowdown might put the brakes on interest rate hikes.

"The coincidence of fairly hot job market data and far more resilient ISM services ... further underpins the point that the Fed is unlikely to step-down the pace and intensity of tightening," said Mizuho economist Vishnu Varathan. "The next litmus test for the direction in yields ... will be the speeches by Bullard and Waller - who should shed more light into the thinking of the hawkish camp within the ," said NatWest Markets' rates strategist Jan Nevruzi.

The global rate tightening seen over recent months, led by the Fed, have stoked recession fears and hurt growth-sensitive commodities such as copper, oil and iron ore. The euro has also been hammered as investors see Europe as ground zero for a global slowdown. The euro, meanwhile, is fast approaching parity on the dollar and has dived more than 2 per cent so far this week, touching its lowest level since 2002 at $1.0162 and steadying at $1.0202 on Thursday.

*flounders

ABJP

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