China slowdown spooks global markets, while UK and US manufacturing disappoint - live

Stocks sink, oil price gains peter out as China provides the cues again in 2016

So it’s been a not-so-happy new year start on stock markets.

Any investors hoping 2016 would bring some fresh market forces will have been spooked by a very familiar pattern today, as weak manufacturing data from China again provided much of the (downward) momentum.

Here’s a closing summary of the first trading day of 2016.

• The FTSE 100 lost 2.4%, its worst opening day to a new year since 2000 and the second-worst on record
• The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 lost 2.8% and Germany’s Daxlost 4.3%, its weakest start to a trading year in the history of the index
• On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average has sold off sharply (down 2.4% at the time of the London close) and could end up setting its own multi-decade record: if the losses stay this deep, it will be the worst start to a year since 1932
• Brent crude has lost earlier gains made on the back of tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Having rallied more than 4%, it is now down 0.9% at $36.9 per barrel
• In China, shares were suspended after a drop of 7% activated“circuit breakers” on their very first day.
• The Chinese sell-off came as a closely watched survey of the country’s vast manufacturing sector showed it shrank for a tenth month running
• US manufacturing reports were weaker and construction spending data pointed to a muted finish to 2015 for the world’s biggest economy
• Manufacturing surveys from the eurozone were more upbeat
• The latest UK manufacturing PMI showed Britain’s factories grew at a slower pace in December while consumers continued to prop up the recovery with debt-fuelled spending as figures showed thefastest growth in net lending since 2006
• The IMF’s new chief economist, Maury Obstfeld, said he wasputting China’s transitioning economy high on his watchlist for 2016
• Sweden’s central bank moved a step closer to intervening in currency markets to weaken the crown

That’s all for today. Thanks for reading and the comments, we will be back early tomorrow with more rolling coverage from global markets.