U.S. Stock Plunge Weighs on Global Markets

Global stocks were mostly lower on the last trading day of the month, as a late-day selloff in U.S. tech shares reverberated overseas.

The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 1.2% in early trade Friday, following weak sessions on Wall Street and in Asia.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its biggest drop since February on Thursday, after investor Carl Icahn said he no longer has a stake in Apple, sending tech shares sharply lower. After markets closed, however Amazon.com Inc. reported its most profitable quarter ever, sending shares in the company up more than 12% in after-hours trading.

Downbeat earnings reports from the travel and leisure sector also weighed on European bourses Friday. Shares in International Consolidated Airlines Group SA fell 4% after the British Airways parent company cut its growth target.

In currencies, the dollar continued to fall following weak U.S. first-quarter growth figures. The euro was last up 0.5% against the dollar at $1.1408, as investors waited for eurozone growth and inflation data due later in the session. The Chinese yuan was fixed more than half a percent higher against the dollar, its biggest daily increase since the currency was depegged from the greenback in 2005. The dollar fell 0.9% against the yen to ¥ 107.1610, weighed by continued disappointment over the Bank of Japan's decision to leave its monetary policy unchanged on Thursday.

Stock markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai also fell Friday, while markets in Japan were closed for a holiday.

Write to Riva Gold at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 29, 2016 04:35 ET (08:35 GMT)

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