European stocks tumbled to a six-month low on Wednesday, as an inversion in the US yield curve following bleak data out of major economies including Germany and China pointed to a looming recession.
Slumping exports sent Germany's economy into reverse in the second quarter, while Chinese industrial output growth cooled to a more than 17-year low in July, underscoring the impact of a bruising US-China trade war on global growth.
Industrial data from the euro zone in June also had a poor showing.
"A lot investors may look at this morning's (yield) inversion and consider it an exit sign," said Mike Loewengart, vice president of investment strategy at E*TRADE Financial Corp.
The benchmark pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down 1.7%, having touched its lowest since Feb. 15, with indexes in Germany, France, and political crisis riddled Italy falling more than 2%.
All sectors were well in the red, with trade-sensitive technology slumping 3%. The Frankfurt-dominated auto index followed with a 2.8% drop, while falling yields took banks to a more than three-year low.
The pan-regional index has lost more than 5% so far this month, on course to match a 5.7% tumble in May which was its biggest decline in more than three years.
Limiting the index's losses were gains in some consumer staples, healthcare and utility stocks, as investors turned to defensive plays. Balfour Beatty topped the STOXX 600, up 9.3% after the British infrastructure company reported higher first-half underlying pretax profit and increased its annual cash forecast.
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