European stock markets close lower, US extends losses

ANKARA

European stocks closed lower Wednesday as the strong selloff in the US that started on previous day continues to rattle global markets.

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, fell 5 points, or 1.06%, to close at 467.87.

London's FTSE 100 was down 53 points, or 0.75%, to 7,095, while Germany's DAX 30 was the worst performer by shedding 232 points, or 1.47%, to 15,610.

France's CAC 40 was off 57 points, or 0.85%, to end the day at 6,688 points. Italy's Borsa Italiana FTSE MIB 30 was down 196 points, or 0.75%, to 25,876.

Spain's IBEX 35 also fell 55 points, or 0.63%, to close at 8,838.

Asian stock markets

Major stock markets in Asia closed the day mixed, with only Asia Dow and Japan posting daily gains.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, gained 9 points, or 0.23%, to end at 4,044 points.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange soared 265 points, or 0.89%, to 30,181, amid revised government data on the second quarter GDP growth rate of 1.9%, which beat initial estimate of a 1.3% increase.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, fell 32.7 points, or 0.12%, to 26,320.

China's Shanghai stock exchange decreased 1.4 points, or 0.04%, to 3,675 points.

Major indices in US

After a weak start to the day, major indices in the US extended their losses.

The Dow Jones was down 68 points, or 0.2%, to 35,031 at 12.36 p.m. EDT (1636GMT), while the S&P 500 fell 8, or 0.18%, to 4,511. The Nasdaq was down 100 points, or 0.65%, to 15,274.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, was at 18.46 with a 1.8% increase. The dollar index was up 0.1% to 92.61.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes, on the other hand, was down 1.4% to 1.351%.

Precious metals failed to recover with gold falling 0.1% to $1,791 per ounce and silver declining 1.2% to $24.

The price of Brent crude was at $72.65 per barrel with a 1.3% gain. West Texas Intermediate rose 1.5% to $69.39.