Global stocks lower as sentiment plunges

Stocks fell on Tuesday (September 29th) as fears about global growth, commodities and the timing of a Federal Reserve rate hike weighed.

At the centre of things was mining giant Glencore, whose shares rallied nine per cent after sliding 30 per cent in the previous session to a record low.

But the pessimistic mood, which saw $800 billion wiped off the value of equities on Monday, was harder to shake as the MSCI All Country World Index sank to its lowest in two years.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan was among the worst fallers, declining by four per cent to close at 16,930.84, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped to a November 2012 low.

European stocks have retreated to their lowest since the start of the year, with the Stoxx Europe 600 sliding nearly 20 per cent since its April peak. Carmakers have slumped 27 per cent, led by the drop in VW shares.

The DAX was trading down 0.2 per cent on Tuesday at 9,466.00, while the FTSE 100 in London slid 0.5 per cent in morning trade to 5,931.9.

US stocks fell in the previous session as biotech shares were crushed again.

The Dow Jones slid 313 points, nearly two per cent, to close at 16,001.89, while the S&P 500 lost more than 2.5 per cent to finish at 1,881.77.

Meanwhile the Nasdaq fell three per cent, its worst decline since mid-August, as the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF dropped by 6.3 per cent on Monday.

Biotech shares have fallen nearly 20 per cent since US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton said she would tackle “price gouging” by drug makers.

Commodity prices were also weaker, with copper retreating to a fresh six-year low.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper for December hit a trough of $2.225 a pound, its lowest since July 2009.

Oil rebounded, with US crude up more than one per cent to $44.89 a barrel on the Nymex. On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent crude climbed one per cent to $47.79.

The US dollar was firm as several Federal Reserve officials voiced their desire to raise rates this year. Investors were looking ahead to Chinese factory data on Wednesday, while the US non-farm payrolls figures on Friday is the week’s main event.