Global markets tumble on US data, Brexit concerns

Stock markets tumbled Wednesday as worse-than-expected US data revived worries about the impact of the US-China trade war on the global economy.

London was additionally hit as Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled his take-it-or-leave-it Brexit plan, with many fearing it will lead to a costly and messy no-deal British departure from the EU at the end of the month.

Asian markets were weaker overnight, hit by news that US manufacturing activity fell to its lowest level since June 2009.

New York, after losses Tuesday, opened down on that lead and then slumped further after a report showed hiring slowed sharply in September while a blockbuster jobs increase reported for August was also revised down.

The data showed "the job market has shown signs of a slowdown," said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute.

The figures came ahead of the all-important government employment report due Friday as dealers look for signals on the US Federal Reserve's interest rate plans, while the corporate earning season is also about to get underway.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) pointed to trade conflicts as the biggest headwind facing the US economy.

"Equities are in full retreat," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at financial spread-betting firm IG.

"The risk-off atmosphere created by yesterday's US ISM miss continues to hang over markets.

"European equities have turned firmly lower in early trading on the very reasonable assumption that, if things are that bad for the US, then they must be even worse for Europe."