A fresh sell-off of Chinese shares prompted renewed jitters across global markets on Thursday.
KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, Germany's DAX fell 1.3 percent to 10,547, while Britain's FTSE slipped 0.6 percent to 6,363. The CAC40 in France was 1.3 percent lower at 4,821. Wall Street looked set for losses at the open too with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures down 0.7 percent.
CHINA CONCERS: Worries over China, the world's number 2 economy, were once again the catalyst for Thursday's declines.
Chinese shares have had a wild ride this week that has raised uncertainty over regulators' ability to limit losses through efforts to boost liquidity in the markets. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 3.4 percent to 3,664.29 on heavy selling of energy and property companies. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. fell 3.5 percent while China Shenhua Energy Co. dropped 4.1 percent.
ANALYST TAKE: "It used to be just Australia that would catch a cold when China sneezed, but the Chinese sell-off is far more infectious than initially thought," said David Madden, market analyst at IG.
FEDERAL RESERVE: Worries over China overshadowed the minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting, which failed to provide investors much steer as to whether a rate hike in September would take place. The Fed hasn't raised interest rates in nearly a decade. "There is clearly a desire to raise rates at the Fed, I'm just not sure at this stage whether everyone is quite on board yet for a September hike to occur," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.
DOLLAR DRIFTS: Following the minutes the dollar has drifted lower against the euro, which was trading 0.5 percent higher at $1.1175. Against the Japanese yen, it was flat at 123.95 yen.
ASIA'S DAY: In other Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index lost 0.9 percent to 20,033.52 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 2.3 percent to 22,642.66. South Korea's Kospi shed 1.3 percent to 1,914.55 and Australia's S&P ASX/200 also dropped, losing 1.7 percent to 5,288.60. Shares also fell in Southeast Asia but rose in Taiwan.
ENERGY: Oil prices slid after U.S. government data showed inventories rose much more than expected last week. Benchmark U.S. crude dropped 31 cents to $40.96 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange while Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell 59 cents to $46.57 a barrel.