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10/16/14

Global Economy: Wall Street braces for big losses as global stocks sink

Investor fear resumed Thursday as Wall Street looked set for another angst-ridden trading session triggered in part by worries that major economies around the world are seeing slowing growth.

The prospect of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa spiraling out of control is also weighing heavily.
U.S. stock futures wavered several hours ahead of the market open, before moving firmly lower Thursday. Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes are all off about 0.8% or more.

Stock markets in Asia tumbled earlier after Wall Street saw wild swings Wednesday before ending down 173 points.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index dived 2.3% Thursday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1%. China's Shanghai Composite index fell 0.7%.

European shares fared no better despite initially displaying some signs of stabilization following huge losses in the prior session.

The German DAX was down 1.7%. Spain's IBEX 35 index tanked 2%. Italy's FTSE MIB closed in on a 3% loss.

The fate of Greece was a particular concern in Europe. Investors are worried the country might need more financial support as its government borrowing rates have risen sharply in recent days. Greece's benchmark 10-year-bond yield rose 1.13 percentage points Thursday to 8.86%.

Oil prices continued to come under pressure.

U.S. crude was down over 2% to $79.91 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 6 cents to close at $81.78 on Wednesday.

Read more: Wall Street braces for big losses as global stocks sink

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