- SpaceX launches mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding as cleanup begins
- SpaceX set to launch mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
- US ports brace for potential dockworkers strike
- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
- Europe en route for Moon with new simulator, says astronaut Pesquet
- Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky Sun flypast
- Argentina judge orders dictionary to delete pejorative definition of 'Jewish'
- Global stocks rise on rate hopes, Beijing stimulus
- S.African woman turns 118, among the oldest in the world
- UK clears $4 bn AI partnership between Amazon, Anthropic
- Barca fans barred from Champions League away game over racist banner
- Chinese stocks extend surge, Europe higher on Beijing stimulus
- Pope says Church must 'seek forgiveness' for child sexual abuse
- China caps week of 'bazooka' stimulus for ailing economy with rate cut
- Cuts, cash, credit: China bids to jumpstart flagging economy
- France's debt weighs heavier ahead of budget debate
- Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war
- Return to sender: waste stranded at sea stirs toxic dispute
- 'Broken' news industry faces uncertain future
- On remote Greek island, migratory birds offer climate clues
- Taken from mother by nuns, victim seeks answers as pope visits Belgium
- China cuts amount banks hold in reserve to boost lending
- Hong Kong, Shanghai extend surge as China optimism boosts markets
- Vietnam president reiterates support for Cuba during official visit
- Drought reduces Amazon River in Colombia by as much as 90%: report
- Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice
- Florida bracing for 'unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene
- Poverty rises to over 52 percent in Milei's Argentina
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala Harris
- Champagne houses abuzz over English sparkling wine
- Macron, Trudeau pledge to work for 'decarbonized' economies
- Hurricanes, storms, typhoons... Is September wetter than usual?
- China stimulus, tech optimism boost stock markets
- 'Unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene races towards Florida
- Macron meets Trudeau in Canada as both face political setbacks
- South Korea surges in UN innovation index
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala
- Floods threaten Niger's historic 'gateway to the desert'
- China economy hopes boost global equities
- Ubisoft shares sink after 'Assassin's Creed' delay
- German economy to shrink again in 2024: think tanks
- Hong Kong's New World Development replaces CEO Adrian Cheng
- Swiss central bank cuts rate again amid strong franc worries
- Germany's BASF to focus on 'core units' in major overhaul
Meta slump and interest rate fears drag stocks lower
Stock markets slid Thursday, dragged down by a massive plunge in the shares of Facebook parent company Meta following disappointing earnings, as well as indications central banks may move more aggressively to raise interest rates.
Attention on Wall Street was firmly focused on Meta, which after the close of the market on Wednesday delivered a gloomy mix of a sharper-than-expected drop in profit, a decrease in users and threats to its ad business.
Already jittery markets have punished pandemic-era darlings including Netflix for disappointing results, but many firms have seen their share prices bounce back as investors continue to push indices back up to record levels.
Meta shares fell by around 25 percent, erasing $200 billion off its value.
The plunge "is raising doubts about the sustainability of the broader rebound effort seen in recent sessions", Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said in a note to investors.
"It is certainly feeding doubts about the sustainability of big percentage moves made by smaller stocks that were simply rebounding from oversold conditions on no news," he added.
Craig Erlam at trading platform OANDA said the disappointing earnings from Meta and music streaming service Spotify -- which reported a quarterly loss and projected lower profit margins in the coming earnings period -- "brought investors back down to earth with a bang".
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index fell 2.6 percent at the start of trading, before clawing back a bit to stand down 2.2 percent in late morning trading.
Meanwhile, trading in Europe was animated by the Bank of England raising interest rates for the second time in a row while the European Central Bank kept its ultra-loose monetary policy intact.
While the BoE's quarter-point hike to 0.5 percent to tackle soaring inflation which it said would peak at 7.25 percent in April was expected, the pound rose as the four of bank's nine members wanted a 0.5-point jump to 0.75 percent.
That helped push down London's FTSE 100, which has many multinational companies hurt by converting foreign sales into a strong pound.
The ECB, as expected, left its interest rates and stimulus exit plan unchanged, despite eurozone inflation unexpectedly rising to a record 5.1 percent in January.
Analysts viewed the figure as a potential headache for ECB President Christine Lagarde, who had previously ruled out a rate hike this year, is no longer doing so, which helped the euro move higher while stocks slumped in Frankfurt and Paris.
"Lagarde's responses in the press conference made clear that the central bank no longer thinks a rate hike is unlikely this year," said Erlam.
"It was always unlikely that we were going to see a dramatic shift in the absence of new economic projections but it's clear after today that we will see something along those lines next month," he added.
Investors are now looking ahead to US jobs figures to released
Meanwhile, oil prices turned higher after spending most of the day lower, one day after top producing countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia announced another modest increase in output.
- Key figures around 1630 GMT -
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 35,387.99 points
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.9 percent at 4,141.02
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.7 percent at 7,528.84 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 1.6 percent at 15,368.47 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.5 percent at 7,005.63 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.1 percent at 27,241.31 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holiday
Shanghai - Composite: Closed for a holiday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1442 from $1.1304 late Wednesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3617 from $1.3573
Euro/pound: UP at 83.99 pence from 83.28 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 114.83 yen from 114.42 yen
Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.3 percent at $89.72 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $88.53 per barrel
burs-rl/har
A.Mykhailo--CPN