17 Oct 2014

World market wobbles continue

6:57 am on 17 October 2014

United States shares continued their tumble overnight, mirroring the European and Asian markets.

The continuing wobbles on the world markets have been sparked by fears of an ebola pandemic and a return of economic woes to Europe.

New Zealand's main index fell yesterday 0.6 percent, and Japan's dropped more than 2 percent to reach a four-month low.

Other Asian shares slipped by lesser amounts, while many European markets also settled lower, continuing a month of lifelessness.

The problems are linked to fears Germany's economy is not robust enough to offset public debt and economic lethargy in France and Italy.

In the US, the Global Dow and the S&P 500 Index are both tracking down slightly.

However, fresh employment data has painted a more optimistic picture of the US economy, as unemployment benefit claims fell to their lowest level in 14 years.

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