European stocks drop as debt fears send bond yields soaring / Photo: SAUL LOEB - AFP
European stocks drop as debt fears send bond yields soaring
European stocks slid Thursday as the final quarter of the year kicked off amid mounting concerns about rising government debt, with heavy selling of the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note sending its yield to the highest level since the dot-com bust in 2002.
Amid the global sell-off in government bonds, French and UK 10-year yields also struck their highest levels since the 2000s, while 30-year bonds also hit multi-decade peaks on growing inflation fears.
"It looks like the relentless rout in the bond market is sending investors running for cover," said Neil Wilson, a market strategist at Saxo UK.
The US 10-year yield hit as much as 5.34 percent, with renewed advances for oil prices adding to the inflation fears as Brent crude once again surpassed $100 a barrel.
The technology sector was in rude health, however, helping the Tokyo and Seoul stock markets to close with strong gains despite growing worries over AI safety.
Google said Wednesday that it would initially withhold its most powerful artificial intelligence model from the public, releasing Gemini 4 Argon only to a vetted group of cybersecurity experts to avoid misuse by hackers.
The cautious rollout mirrors the approach of rival Anthropic, which has kept its most advanced model, Claude Mythos Preview, restricted to a small number of trusted organisations.
Wall Street stocks finished mixed Wednesday as support for tech stocks and well-received US economic data was offset by the lofty bond yields.
"Asian stocks with links to AI still managed strong gains as they reacted to a blockbuster set of earnings from US memory chip outfit Micron," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
"US futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street later, largely thanks to this artificial intelligence-related boost," he added.
Chip maker Micron Technology provided a much-needed boost to investors amid lingering worries about the vast sums pumped into the AI sector in recent years, and when companies will see returns.
Traders are meanwhile awaiting Friday's US jobs data for clues on whether the Federal Reserve will follow up last month's interest rate hike, aimed at combatting elevated inflation, with another round of tightening in October.
The prospect of back-to-back increases eased Wednesday after the Fed's preferred inflation gauge came in at 3.4 percent year-on-year in August, unchanged from July.
Separate official US data showed a large upgrade to economic growth in the world's biggest economy during the second quarter, to 2.2 percent.
- Key figures at around 0945 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.5 percent at 10,446.45 points
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.1 percent at 7,876.43
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.7 percent at 25,025.02
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 3.3 percent at 68,956.72 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holiday
Shanghai - Composite: Closed for a holiday
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.9 percent at 50,906.05 (close)
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.3 percent at $100.25 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.0 percent at $92.25 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1294 from $1.1325 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3224 from $1.3257
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 158.35 yen from 157.38 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 85.43 pence from 85.41 pence
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