Markets factor in familiar September pain By Reuters

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Rae Wee

European markets are set for a rocky start on Wednesday after shares in Asia remained in the red as worries about the global growth outlook resurfaced and as the boom in artificial intelligence hit another new speed.

U.S. and European futures sank as MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan headed for its worst session since Aug. 5, when worries about a slowing U.S. economy and unwinding trading in the Japanese yen hit global stock markets.

September has historically been a bad month for stocks, and it looks like US investors were eager to keep up with that tradition after sending Wall Street reeling back from the Labor Day holiday.

Analysts say there is no specific reason behind the market’s latest rout. Warm U.S. manufacturing data could be blamed, but so could cloud China’s shaky economic recovery and Nvidia’s (NASDAQ: ) record sales.

The loss of $279 billion in the market value of the AI ​​darling hampered tech stocks in Asia on Wednesday, with Japanese chip-test equipment maker Advantest, a supplier to Nvidia, falling 7 percent. Taiwan’s TSMC fell 4%.

On the commodity front, concerns over falling global demand sent oil prices down to their weakest level in nine months.

China’s CNOOC (NYSE: ) Ltd led the decline in Hong Kong-listed oil stocks and also headed for its biggest one-day percentage decline since Aug. 5.

Everything seems to be pointing to another turbulent course for markets for now, with US jobs data later on Wednesday set to provide clues on the strength of the labor market.

Still, the focus remains squarely on Friday’s US non-farm payrolls report for August, which could determine whether the Federal Reserve’s expected rate cut this month will be modest or very large.

Until then, investors will be walking on eggshells, and the selloff so far may not be the last.

Key developments that could influence markets on Wednesday:

– France HCOB services PMI (Aug)

– Germany HCOB services PMI (Aug)

– euro zone producer prices (July)

– US JOLTS job offers (July)