Stock markets around the world are suffering heavy losses, with almost all sectors in the deep red. In this climate, the Athens Stock Exchange closed with a dive that reached 2.95%, while the European Stoxx 600 closed with a fall of 2.73%.

The decisions of the Central Banks and the fears of a recession in the USA

The Bank of England’s decision to cut interest rates for the first time since 2020, the Federal Reserve’s move to keep them unchanged, and the Bank of Japan’s decision to raise them, combined with some corporate finance results that disappointed affected investor sentiment resulting in stocks falling. This gloomy picture, further boosted the economic data announced in the USreigniting recession fears.

Particularly, data on jobs on the other side of the Atlantic showed that hiring slowed last month by much more than economists had expected, spooking markets, with both stock and bond yields falling sharply. Nonfarm payrolls rose by just 114,000 last month, according to data from the Labor Department, slowing from June’s 179,000 and well below the 185,000 economists in a Dow Jones poll had expected. The unemployment at the same time saw an increase, for the fourth month in a row, at 4.3%.

The financial data follows the data announced on Thursday for manufacturing which for July contracted by the largest percentage in the last 8 months.

Big losses on Wall Street

Thus, in America, the industrial index Dow Jones drops 2.34%, to 39,403.41 units, with S&P 500 to lose at the same time 2.59% to 5,310.17 points, in a session that appears to be the worst in two years for both indexes.

The sell off in Intel stock led to losses of 2.83% y/y Nasdaqwhich trades at 2,083 units, having passed in correction area.

The fall in Intel stock led semiconductor stocks worldwide. Its shares Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) closed with losses of 4.6% in Taiwan, while the Samsung lost more than 4% on the South Korean stock market. It is noted that TSMC is the largest chip manufacturer in the world.

Stoxx 600 lost 500 points – 2.73% loss

The European Stoxx 600 closed down 2.73% (the biggest in a year), missing the 500-point level (set at 497.85 points) for the first time since April, as investors took positions in defensive stocks. As a result some utilities and pharmaceuticals stocks are outperforming, including of AstraZeneca and Sanofi.

The German DAX lost 2.44% and closed at 17,642 units, with the French CAC to trade 1.61% lower at 7,251 points, its lowest level since November. At -2.5% and at 32,035 units, the Italian closed FTSE MIB.

Shares also underperformed on the Swiss stock market, which was closed on Thursday for a holiday, with UBS shares losing 8.3%.

“Dive” in Asia as well

The picture was similar in the Asian stock markets. The Nikkei 225 index, in its worst day since March 2020, fell 5.81% to 35,909 points. THE wider Topix recorded even greater losses (-6.14% to 2,537.6 points), in a session marked as the worst in 8 years.