London’s FTSE 100 slumped over a per cent amid a fall in commodities and the crypto crash which plunged the other world markets overnight.
The UK’s index of leading shares closed down 84 points at 6,950 on Wednesday, while the domestically focused FTSE 250 fell 98 points, to 22,234.
The US stocks also extended to lows on Wednesday, however, pared some losses before closing affected by crypto crash and a hint of tapering talk from the US Federal Reserve drove selling in the bond market.
Fed minutes published on Wednesday said “a number” of officials thought that if the recovery holds up, it might be appropriate to “begin discussing a plan for adjusting the pace of asset purchases”.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 164 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 33,896, the S&P 500 lost 12 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 4,115 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.90 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 13,299.
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On Thursday morning, benchmarks in the Asia-Pacific region were either flat or trading in red except in Japan, where data showed the country’s exports were surging. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 surged higher in morning trade, however, the overall weighing down caught up and its trading was flat at around noon.
Shanghai Composite is trading in red, 0.2 per cent down, while South Korea’s Kospi is half a per cent down. Hang Seng opened deep in red and continues to trade over 200 points down.
The crypto crash was largely driven by China’s decision to ban financial and payment institutions from providing digital currency services, after which Bitcoin briefly plunged to its lowest level since January, but pared its losses later.
Indian indices opened in green on Thursday, however losses in commodities and jittery Asian markets capped some gains. The BSE Sensex was below the 50,000 mark and continues to trade flat, while Nifty 50 also trades below 15,000.