European markets see slump amid recession fears

Yesterday European stocks fell to a 16-month low, extending last week’s slump. Investors have been put off by falling bond yields and the fact that crude oil prices have declined another 2% after a meeting between OPEC producers Saudi Arabia and Venezuela provided no indication they’d be able to do anything to boost prices.

Germany’s DAX was the biggest loser, down 2.4%, while the French CAC 40 declined by 2.29% and London’s FTSE 100 was down 1.76%. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 2.5%.

Much of this is down to worries over global growth in the financial sector and effect of negative interest rates on Europe. Concern over the health of the sector, which has prompted comparisons with the early days of the global financial crisis in 2008, pushed borrowing costs in the euro zone's most indebted countries higher and sent investors to the relative safety of ultra-low-risk government debt.

This is likely to have an effect on US markets too. 

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