European stocks tumbled at the start of Tuesday’s trading session, on the back of heavy declines seen in Asia and the U.S.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 1,175.21 points to close down at 24,345.75 on Monday — having briefly declined by more than 1,500 points during the session. U.S. futures extended losses on Tuesday overnight. Meantime in Asia, indexes posted massive losses as the global sell-off continued.
The sell-off kicked into action on Friday, after the latest nonfarm payrolls report in the U.S. saw interest rates on sovereign debt jump. While there was no particular piece of news that pushed major U.S. indexes deep into the red on Monday, the recent moves in the bond market have added volatility and concern to market sentiment.
Switching focus back to Europe, earnings, data and politics were also on investors’ minds on Tuesday.
BNP Paribas reported a worse than expected net profit for its fourth quarter of 2017, falling 1.1 percent to 1.43 billion euros ($1.77 billion) and missing market expectations.
Meanwhile, Intensa Sanpaolo announced an increase in both fourth-quarter and full-year net profits, beating analysts expectations.
Swedish lender Swedbank reported a higher-than-expected increase in fourth-quarter operating profits, thanks to higher commissions and interest income, Reuters reported.
At the same time BP posted earnings above expectations on a surge in refining and trading during the final three months of 2017.
On the data front, the construction purchasing managers index (PMI) for Germany is due out after the open, along with retail PMI for the euro area.
Meanwhile on the political front, a new round of Brexit negotiations are set to kick off on Tuesday. Chief Brexit negotiator for the EU, Michel Barnier told the U.K. on Monday that the time had now come for the nation to make a decision on the type of relationship it wants with the bloc after it leaves the EU, according to Reuters. Consequently, the latest talks will mean investors will be paying close attention to the moves in sterling and the euro.
Over in Germany, coalition negotiations are set to continue between Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD), as the two parties look to reach a deal on issues such as health care and reforms in the labor space.
Elsewhere, oil prices and bitcoin futures posted sharp declines on the back of the sell-off that’s sweeping markets worldwide.
In recent hours, bitcoin hit its lowest since November, as leaders across the globe continue to discuss the future and potential implementation of the cryptocurrency, with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi stating Monday that the central bank was looking into any financial stability risks that digital currencies may have on banks.
—Reuters contributed to this report
