European Shares Set To Extend Losses Amid Growth Jitters

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening sharply lower on Wednesday as investors fret about the U.S. economic outlook and await more economic readings this week for clues on the Federal Reserve's rate-cutting cycle.

Tech shares may face increased selling pressure after reports that the U.S. Justice Department has sent Nvidia a subpoena as part of a deepening probe into the AI heavyweight's antitrust practices.

In economic news, U.S. data on trade, job openings, factory orders and the Fed's Beige Book survey results are due later in the day, followed by reports on weekly jobless claims, services sector activity and the ADP employment change on Thursday.

The most highly anticipated event of the week comes Friday, with the release of the August jobs report.

Economists currently expect employment to climb by 165,000 jobs in August after an increase of 114,000 jobs in July.

The unemployment rate is expected to edge down to 4.2 percent after rising to 4.3 percent in July, reaching its highest level since October 2021.

Closer home, final composite Purchasing Managers' survey results from the euro area and the U.K. are due later in the session, headlining a busy day for the European economic news.

Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower, with benchmark indexes in Australia, South Korea and Japan falling 2-4 percent.

The safe-haven Japanese yen soared and bond yields dipped while gold held steady on U.S. growth jitters.

Oil extended losses after falling almost 5 percent in the previous session.

U.S. stocks slumped overnight, with the major averages posting their worst declines since Aug.5, as weak manufacturing data added to concerns that the U.S. economy could be headed to a recession.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plummeted 3.3 percent amid a steep drop for AI investor darling Nvidia and other chip stocks.

The S&P 500 tumbled 2.1 percent and the Dow dipped 1.5 percent as two indicators of manufacturing activity showed continued sluggish activity in the sector.

European stocks dropped from record high levels on Tuesday as new U.S data rekindled growth worries.

The pan-European STOXX 600 dipped 1 percent. The German DAX lost 1 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gave up 0.8 percent.