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Global shares plunge after oil prices crash | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Shares in London have plummeted in early trading, with the FTSE 100 index of shares plunging 8%. | |
It comes after big falls in Asia, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index down 5% while Australia's ASX 200 slumped 7.3%, its biggest daily drop since 2008. | |
Markets have been rattled by the threat of a price war between oil exporting group Opec and its main ally Russia, which sent oil prices down by 30%. | |
The wobble compounds fears over the effect of coronavirus on the economy. | |
With oil prices crashing on Monday, energy firms have seen some of the biggest share price falls. | |
Euro STOXX 50 futures fell 10%, on course for their worst day on record. Futures are bets on stock markets and trade outside normal market hours. Traders use them as a barometer for how a market will perform when it opens. | |
Asian investors also reacted to a slump in Chinese export figures and the shrinking of the Japanese economy. | Asian investors also reacted to a slump in Chinese export figures and the shrinking of the Japanese economy. |
In China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite share index fell more than 2%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index sank 3.5%. | |
On Saturday, China released import and export figures for the first two months of the year. Exports fell by 17.2% while imports dropped by 4%. This gave the Chinese economy a trade deficit of $7.1 billion as it struggles with the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. | On Saturday, China released import and export figures for the first two months of the year. Exports fell by 17.2% while imports dropped by 4%. This gave the Chinese economy a trade deficit of $7.1 billion as it struggles with the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. |
"China may slowly be returning to work, but manufacturers will now likely be facing an international fall in demand, with coronavirus now well-established outside of Chinese shores," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at broker OANDA | |