Global stock markets tumble amid fears of US recession

Stocks around the world tumbled on Monday as worries intensified over a US recession, sparking a global market sell-off.

The Dow and the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500 posted their worst daily loss in about two years.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 dropped 3 percent on Monday. 

Nasdaq 100 lost over $900 billion in terms of market value while over $1.4 trillion in market value was wiped out from the S&P 500. 

Russell 2000, a small-cap US stock market index, also fell by 3.3 percent.

Also, investors continued to sell off tech stocks and artificial intelligence equities.

The share price of Nvidia, a US tech company, tumbled by 6.4 percent, Apple dropped by 4.8 percent and Microsoft fell by 3.3 percent — accounting for about 50 points of the S&P 500’s 160-point drop. 

The Magnificent seven index — which consists tech stocks — also dropped by 4.3 percent.

Also, Europe’s Stoxx 600 index — which represents large, mid and small capitalisation companies — declined by 2.17 percent.

Similarly, Japan stocks entered a bear market, with the Nikkei index losing 12.4 percent — its worst day since 1987.

In Nigeria, the stock market depreciated by 2.23 percent, losing 2,228.31 basis points, to close at 97,582.41 all share index (ASI).

Fear of recession and rapid federal reserve rate cuts in the US, as well as a hawkish pivot by the Bank of Japan, are some of the causes of the downturn across Europe, Asia and the US, according to strategists in a CNBC report.