Asian shares tumble as Obama authorises air strikes in Iraq
By Lisa Twaronite
Better-than-expected export growth from China pulled markets off their lows, but failed to offset all the gloom, which was expected to cast a long shadow over European shares. Financial spreadbetters see Britain's FTSE 100 opening 45 points lower, or down 0.7 percent; Germany's DAX opening 92 points lower, or down 1 percent; and France's CAC 40 shedding 43 points at the open, or down 1 percent.
U.S. crude, meanwhile, soared more than a $1 to $98.45 a barrel, after closing at its the weakest level since February on Wednesday. It was last up about 0.6 percent at $97.96, while Brent crude rose 0.9 percent to $106.39 a barrel.
"In the big scheme of things the moves feel overdone, but that's because volatility has been so low recently. Everyone said the volatility couldn't stay so low, that something would change it. This seems to be the event," said Richard Grace, chief currency and rates strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
S&P 500 e-mini futures slipped 0.6 percent, which could portend a downbeat day ahead on Wall Street. On Thursday, U.S. shares ended down, erasing early gains marked on data showing the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week.
But markets edged away from their session lows after China reported that its exports in July jumped 14.5 percent from a year earlier, while imports fell 1.6 percent, leaving the country with a trade surplus of $47.3 billion for the month. That beat market expectations of a 7.5 percent rise in exports, a 3 percent increase in imports and a trade surplus of $27 billion.
YIELDS UNDER PRESSURE
Risk-averse investors continued to seek the safety of fixed-income assets, sending U.S. yields to fresh 14-month lows as bond prices rose.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries stood at 2.377 percent, down from the U.S. close of 2.424 percent, after dropping as low as 2.375 percent.
Spot gold hit $1,318.80 an ounce, its highest since July 18, and was last up 0.4 percent on the day at $1,319.46.