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 Europe's main stock markets, which had surged on Tuesday after
China's moves, reopened 2 percent down as the jittery mood returned
and sent investors back into safe-haven German and U.S. government
bonds.
China's key share indexes had attempted to move higher several times
during Asian trading only to be slapped back by waves of selling,
reflecting investors' views that much more support was needed from
the government and the central bank.
Despite a late struggle, the CSI300 index <.CSI300> closed down 0.6
percent and the Shanghai Composite Index <.SSEC> ended off 1.3
percent for fifth straight day in the red.
It followed on from a jarring finish on Wall Street where the S&P
500 slumped more than 3 percent in the last hour.
The CBOE Market Volatility Index <.VIX> was still elevated at 36 on
Wednesday, indicating significant uncertainty, even though the "fear
index" as it is known was below the previous day's 6-1/2 year peak
of 53.3.
"The root of this is concern that growth in China may be a lot lower
than what the market had thought," said Michael Bolliger, head of
emerging market asset allocation at UBS Wealth Management in Zurich.
"They made further announcements yesterday but the market does not
appear fully convinced, it has not distracted people from the fears
about the economy."
There was more choppiness in currencies, with the dollar beginning
to lose steam again in Europe having been on front foot for most of
the Asian session.
The euro, which has taken on somewhat of a safe-haven status during
the recent volatility, briefly turned higher on the day, rising to
$1.1515 <EUR=>. The dollar also dipped back to 119.35 yen <JPY=>,
having been at 119.83 yen in early deals.
ILLIQUID
Fixed income markets were active with investors back in the mood for
safety in government debt and cash. The yield on benchmark U.S.
10-year Treasuries eased to 2.0854 percent from 2.091 percent in
late U.S. trade. It was close to 2.50 percent barely a month ago.
China's downturn and global market turmoil have also created fresh
uncertainty over whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin raising
interest rates this year.
German 10-year bond yields -- the euro zone benchmark -- also
dropped 5 basis to back below 0.70 percent, though that was still a
way away from Monday's 0.51 percent lows when the China fears had
coursed through markets.
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"Some parts of the Asian bond markets have become quite illiquid and
investors are only buying high-quality paper amid this selloff,"
said Hayden Briscoe, fixed-income director at AllianceBernstein in
Hong Kong.
Despite China's struggles, Asia had shown some signs of
stabilization after its recent lurches.
Japan's Nikkei and Korea's KOPSI were among the bright spots, with
the former rising 3.2 percent as the dollar pushed down the yen. The
latter jumped 2.6 percent in its biggest jump in two years.
Commodity prices which have been firmly in the China firing line,
hovered just above multi-year lows hit earlier in the week.
The price of copper, often considered a proxy for global economic
activity because of the metal's extensive use, dropped back 1.8
percent to $5,065 per tonne after a bounce on Tuesday.
A fall in a host of other industrial metals also kept the
19-commodity Thomson Reuters/Core Commodity CRB Index close to lows
not seen since 2003.
Oil was bucking the trend. Brent crude futures last traded at $43.50
per barrel, more than a dollar above 6 1/2-year low of $42.23 on
Monday. U.S. crude also ticked up to 39.55.
Gold, meanwhile, was one of the few traditional safe-haven
assets to lose ground, as it dipped 0.3 percent at $1,136 an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Sujata Rao in London, Saikat Chatterjee in
Hong Kong; Editing by Giles Elgood)
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