Summary
Major Wall Street indexes have tumbled as fears of a US economic recession grow
The drop comes amid a global market selloff, including in Europe and Asia
Weaker-than-expected economic data from the US, including a jobs report on Friday, has fuelled speculation that the world's largest economy is slowing
Japan's market plummeted to its biggest fall by points in history
In London, the FTSE 100 index fell by 2.8%
Stock markets in Taiwan, South Korea, India, Australia, Hong Kong and Shanghai all tumbled
Analysts now expect the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates
Live Reporting
Edited by Brandon Livesay in New York and Emily McGarvey
What happened today?published at 18:07 5 August
18:07 5 August
We are wrapping up our live coverage of global markets. Here's a recap of where things stand after a bumpy couple of hours on Wall Street.
- After a report of weak jobs data was released on Friday, Wall Street opened with sharp declines, stoking fears of a sudden downturn in the world's largest economy
- Tech stocks, as expected, took a beating - with the Nasdaq technology-heavy index down by 3.1%
- Multiple experts declared this is not a US recession, but warned the economy is weakening
- Japan's market plummeted to its biggest fall by points in history
- In London, the FTSE 100 index fell by 2.8%
- Stock markets in Taiwan, South Korea, India, Australia, Hong Kong and Shanghai all tumbled
For a full wrap of what happened in global markets today, click here. And for analysis on if the US is really heading for recession, click here.
Thanks for joining us.
Watch: Market correction could be fuelled by economic uncertainty - expertpublished at 17:56 5 August
17:56 5 August
Earlier, Katy Kaminski, Chief Research Strategist at the investment firm AlphaSimplex, told the BBC that while inflation was an initial concern, fears are now moving to economic weakness.
The question of whether the market is ready for a correction would be fuelled by economic uncertainty, political uncertainty, and high valuations, she said.
'Tech rally isn't over' - analystpublished at 17:43 5 August
17:43 5 August
Investors are feeling "massive pain globally" today, says Dan Ives, head of the US stock brokerage Wedbush Securities. However, he believes the falls we're seeing in Big Tech stocks are temporary.
"This is just a white knuckle moment in a multi-year bull run for tech stocks," he said in a note to investors earlier.
He thinks the US economy will avoid recession with a "soft landing", while the Federal Reserve will begin a "major" rate-cutting cycle the next 18 months.
As for artificial intelligence, he says the excitement that has driven the rally in tech stocks over the last 18 months is not just hype.
"This is not a bubble and tech vendors will start to show the monetisation/use cases/growth over the next six to nine months to validate the valuations," Ives said.
"While we clearly get the worries/fears the US consumer is weakening, Fed is late to the game, hard landing bear thesis returning... we focus on tech spending and the winners that will be front and centre in this massive AI tech buildout that is still in the second inning of a nine inning game."
Goldman Sachs says chances of US recession are 'limited'published at 17:35 5 August
17:35 5 August
Jonathan Josephs
BBC business reporterThe leading Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs says the chancesof a US recession remain “limited”, even though they have grown after Friday’sdisappointing jobs data.
In an update published at the weekend, it said there was nowa 25% chance that the world’s biggest economy will shrink within the next year,compared to 15% beforehand.
The update said that whilst the “July employment report was weakacross the board” a big reason the unemployment rate rose was because oftemporary lay-offs, which are of less concern when it comes to the state of theeconomy.
Overall the bank is not overly concerned because as the headof the central bank, the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell said last week: “Wecertainly have a lot of room to respond if we were to see weakness”.
That’s because interest rates are currently at a range of5.25%-5.50% - which is the highest in 23 years - and means it can make plentyof cuts to try and fulfil its twin mandate of having inflation at 2% whilstmaking sure there are enough jobs to go round.
US unemployment high triggered the Sahm rule - but what is it?published at 17:23 5 August
17:23 5 August
Dearbail Jordan
Business reporterOver the past few days, global stock markets have been in a slump.
Trading screens across the US, Asia and, to a certain extent, Europe are awash with blinking red numbers heading south. The sudden turn comes as fears grow that the US economy - the world's biggest - is slowing down.
Adding to the concerns about weak job data, the rate of unemployment also rose to 4.3%, a near three-year high, which triggered something known as the "Sahm rule".
Named after American economist Claudia Sahm, the rule says if the average unemployment rate over three months is half a percentage point higher than the lowest level over the past 12 months then the country is at the beginning of a recession.
In this case, the US unemployment rate rose in July, so the three-month average was 4.1%. That compares to the lowest level over the last year which was 3.5%.
However, according to Sahm herself - the inventor of the rule - “We are not in a recession now".
She told CNBC today that "the momentum is in that direction" but "a recession is not inevitable and there is substantial scope to reduce interest rates".
Why US job figures are being closely watchedpublished at 17:19 5 August
17:19 5 August
Jonathan Josephs
BBC business reporterOne of the main reasons markets have been falling is thatthe US, which is the world’s biggest economy, added a much less than expected114,000 new jobs last month.
But one somewhat influential policymaker has warned againstreading too much into one month’s jobs data.
Austan Goolsbee heads the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicagoand told CNBC, external: “remember that the payroll jobs numbers is plus or minus 100,000”.
He was referring to the fact that the numbers often revisedup or down once the government agency that puts them together collects moredata from across the country.
Golsbee did describe the jobs numbers as “weaker thanexpected” but added they were “not looking yet like recession”.
Generally a strong jobs number indicates businesses areconfident in the future of the economy and therefore prepare to take on newstaff.
Markets continue to pare their lossespublished at 17:04 5 August
17:04 5 August
Image source, Getty ImagesUS stock markets remain in the red but continue to pare their losses after a shocking fall at the start of trading.
It comes after closely watched data on the US services sector showed activity rebounded in August from a four-year low in July, easing recession fears somewhat.
A short while ago the Dow Jones index was down 2.2%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq by 2.8% and the S&P 500 by 2.4%.
Shares in big-hitting tech stocks have also recovered a little, with Nvidia down 5.4%, Amazon 3.8% lower, Apple down 4.5%, Alphabet (which owns Google) down 2.2% and Meta (which owns Facebook) 2% lower.
Over in Europe, the picture has improved slightly, too. France's Cac 40 is down by 1.4% while the UK's FTSE 100 and Germany's Dax index are about 2% lower.
Trump blames Harris for market shockwavespublished at 16:56 5 August
16:56 5 August
Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondentImage source, Getty ImagesDonald Trump, who has been struggling to find a clear line of attack against Vice-President Kamala Harris, has quickly latched onto the recent global stock market sell-off.
In a series of posts on his social media site, he blamed Harris and the Democrats for the downturn and said stockholders were rejecting her candidacy.
“Voters have a choice,” he wrote, “Trump prosperity or the Kamala crash & great depression of 2024.”
Public opinion polls have shown that voters trust the former president more on economic issues than they do Democrats. While the stock market indexes are still well above where they were when Trump left the White House, if the past few days of poor economic news represent a trend over the next three months, it could give Trump a potent electoral issue.
Democrats will be quick to note the economic turmoil that took place during the last year of Trump’s presidency, with its Covid-related unemployment surge and stock market collapse that dwarf the recent dip.
America voters tend to focus on the future, however. And if a stumbling economy becomes the top issue as they head to the polls in November, it will be difficult for Harris to shift their attention to areas – like abortion and the environment - where she is more popular than the former president.
Volatility is herepublished at 16:49 5 August
16:49 5 August
Michelle Fleury
Reporting from New YorkFar from showing evidence of an economy that’s weakening,activity in the US services sector rebounded from a four year low in July.
The ISM Services Index, which, as its name suggest surveysmanagers in the services sector showed a rise in orders and employment.
That reassured financial markets… temporarily. US stockmarkets briefly trimmed some of their losses.
Although it didn’t take long for the sell-off to resume.
A reminder for investors to buckle up, as we’re in for abumpy ride.
How worried should we be?published at 16:44 5 August
16:44 5 August
Dharshini David
Chief economics correspondentWe've seen significant movements on share indexes around the world today.
But markets do get thejitters from time to time - after all, what investors are doing are trying tomake money by placing bets on what might happen to companies’ profits andeconomies fortunes, based on their judgement of pieces of evidence,speculating – so they are prone to be volatile.
And that’s more likely the caseduring the summer holiday season when fewer shares are changing hands - meaningany swings are exaggerated
But economists caution that the majority of economic datasuggest the US isn’t heading for recession - one put the chance of that as justone in four. And some markets, such as in the UK, have merely returned to wherethey were a few months ago, suggesting that investors may have been toooptimistic before.
However, Friday's weak data on US job numbers landed just as a series of eventselsewhere unsettled the markets, and it may take a little more evidenceto soothe them.
Watch: 'If the Fed doesn't act soon, expect a recession by end of the year'published at 16:36 5 August
16:36 5 August
Economist Steven Blitz spoke to the BBC earlier to warn that if the Federal Reserve waits for the economy to be bad in order to cut interest rates, "it's too late".
If that happens, he says the US could be in a recession "by the end of the year".
Central bank will 'fix it' if economic conditions deteriorate - Chicago Fed Presidentpublished at 16:29 5 August
16:29 5 August
Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee has downplayed US recession fears but says Federal Reserve officials need to monitor changes in the environment to avoid being too restrictive with interest rates.
"You only want to be that restrictive if you think there'sfear of overheating... these data, to me, do not look likeoverheating," Goolsbee tells CNBC news.
He says the central bank's job is not to react to one month of weaker labour data.
Goolsbee adds that if economic conditions deteriorate, the central bank will “fix it".
“The Fed’s job is very straightforward: maximise employment, stabilise prices and maintain financial stability. That’s what we’re going to do."
Will there be an interest rate cut in September?published at 16:18 5 August
16:18 5 August
Dearbail Jordan
Business reporterThe US Federal Reserve voted last week not to cut interest rates.
Other central banks within developed economies, including the Bank of England and the European Central Bank, have recently cut interest rates.
The Fed held borrowing costs but its chair, Jerome Powell, signalled that a cut in September was on the table.
However, this led to speculation that the Fed had waited too long to act.A cut in interest rates means it is cheaper to borrow money which should, in theory, act as a boost to the economy.If the jobs figures suggest that the economy is already tipping downwards, then the fear is the Fed is too late.
Last week, the chip-making giant Intel announced it was cutting 15,000 jobs and market rumours suggested that rival Nvidia may have to delay the release of its new AI chip.
What followed was a bloodbath on the Nasdaq, the technology-heavy US index. After hitting a high only a few weeks ago, it plunged by 10% on Friday.
That helped pump-up the fear factor across markets and that's where danger could lie. If stock market panic continues and shares keep plunging the Fed could potentially step in before its next meeting in September and cut interest rates.
How falling global markets might affect youpublished at 16:08 5 August
16:08 5 August
Dharshini David
Chief economics correspondentThere are a number of ways sharp falls on global stock marketscould affect you.
First up - shares have a direct impact on many of us - becausethey underpin our investments - such as pension funds.
The root cause of these market jitters are fearsamong some investors that the US may be headed for recession. Mosteconomists stress that remains unlikely - but any slowdown has globalramifications. American consumers account for one in every seven poundsspent globally, so that can hit demand for goods worldwide.
So the value of commodities such as oil have slipped, while theshares of mining companies and banks have been hit particularly hard - eventhough growth prospects in the UK and Europe remain relatively upbeat.
In addition, investors are concerned that the shares of big UStech companies may have risen too far in recent months, with some key figureslike Warren Buffett selling stakes. That’s caused the likes of Apple andchipmaker Nvidia to see their share price drop sharply, prompting particularly sharpcorrections in Asian markets which have invested heavily in technology stocks.
Japan’s market, which had performed particularly well inpreceding months, has suffered particularly severely as interest rates and thevalue of the yen have risen, both of which tend to damage economic growth.
Unlikely to see emergency interest rate cut - economistpublished at 16:01 5 August
16:01 5 August
Economist Steven Blitz says he doesn't think there will be an emergency rate cut. But could there be a bigger rate cut in September?
"If there's another sub 100,000 job number in August, and weak retail sales in July and August, then yes," he says.
"If they (the Federal Reserve) want to take their time cutting (interest rates), that's their business. The cost of that will be a much more rapid acceleration in cutting later on when we're already in recession."
He says this is all about avoiding a recession.
On Wall Street, investor anxiety soarspublished at 15:51 5 August
15:51 5 August
Image source, Getty ImagesA little earlier Wall Street's most watchedgauge of investor anxiety recorded its largest ever intraday jump, amid fears theUS could be tipping into recession.
The CBOE Volatility Index - or "VIX" - jumped to a high of 65.73 points,up about 42 points from its close on Friday, before falling back as the morning went on in New York.
It comes after an unusually longperiod of market calm, where the benchmark S&P 500 share index went 356sessions without a 2% or larger drop - the longest suchstreak since 2007.
Joe Tigay, portfolio manager at Rational Equity Armor Fund, an investment company, told Reuters it was only to be expected.
"It was just too long of a period where stocks were going upand there was just the assumption that all they have to do isjust wait, and then they'll go higher... At some point that snaps out of reality."
Bad timingpublished at 15:46 5 August
15:46 5 August
Michelle Fleury
Reporting from New YorkMultiple online brokerage firms in America are havingtechnical troubles in the middle of this stock sell-off.
Charles Schwab and Fidelity users are reporting issueslogging in, taking to social media to vent their frustration. Since they can’taccess their accounts, they are unable to make trades.
Charles Schwab posted this on X, external:
"Due to a technical issue, some clients may have difficulty logging in to Schwab platforms.Please accept our apologies as our teams work to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Hold times may be longer than usual."
Recapping a hectic morningpublished at 15:36 5 August
15:36 5 August
Michelle Fleury
Reporting from New YorkFears of a US economic slowdown have continued to drive downglobal financial markets.
US stocks fell at the start of the trading day, withthe tech heavy Nasdaq taking the lead.
The VIX - Wall Street's so called fearindex - surged to 55. The last time it was at that level, not counting thepandemic, was the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.
This comes after Japanese stockssuffered their biggest ever daily decline.
Losses carried over to Europe,although they were less pronounced.
Friday's disappointing US jobs data sparkedthe sell-off and raised expectations that America’s central bank will have toslash interest rates.
After an hour of trading on Wall Street, here's where things standpublished at 15:27 5 August
15:27 5 August
The major US share indexes have pared their losses slightly since trading began, but the picture still isn't pretty
A short while ago the Dow Jones index of the top 30 biggest US listed firms was down by 2.29%.
The broader based S&P 500 had lost 3% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was 3.5% lower.
Stocks remain volatile elsewhere too. France's Cac 40, London's FTSE 100 and Germany's Dax were down between 1.8% and 2.2% in afternoon trade.
Why Big Tech is leading this sell-offpublished at 15:15 5 August
15:15 5 August
Daniel Thomas
Business reporterImage source, Getty ImagesIt's not only concerns about the US economy that are driving this global sell-off. Investors are also getting cold feet about the prospects of the world's biggest tech companies.
Shares in firms such as Amazon, Facebook (Meta), Apple and Alphabet (which owns Google) have soared over the last year amid hopes that their massive investments in artificial intelligence (AI) will lead to better sales and profits. The chipmaker Nvidia briefly became the most valuable company in the world because of the rally.
However, last week several of these tech giants published disappointing financial results, raising fears that the excitement may just be hype.
And as Big Tech giants are the largest companies listed on the US stock market, if they fall the wider S&P500 and Nasdaq indexes also get dragged down.
The correction in these stocks has been stark. In the last month alone shares in Amazon and Nvidia have fallen by 20%, Facebook-owner Meta by 13%, and Apple by 8%, wiping billions off their market value.
