Stock markets were mixed Thursday, as the concerns over global growth behind recent wild swings continued to drag on Asian exchanges.
U.S. futures pointed to small opening losses, with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are both on course to open 0.3% lower. The S&P 500 has closed down on eight of the past 10 trading days. Tech stocks Apple Inc. and 3M Company were set to open down 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively.
The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.1% in afternoon trading, extending its rally so far this week after dropping 5% in the past month.
Indexes fell sharply across Asia-Pacific , however, with Chinese stocks in particular taking another hammering. Shanghai's composite index fell 2.9% and the Shenzhen A-Share dropped 2.7%. The Shanghai exchange has dropped by a quarter so far this year.
Sentiment was downbeat across other major Asian indexes as well, although only those Chinese indexes fell by more than 1%.
Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, fell below $80 a barrel for the first time in nearly a month. Earlier in October, the benchmark breached the $85 -a-barrel level for the first time in roughly four years, sparking concerns about its effect on inflation and some emerging markets.
Continued selling in Asia came against a backdrop of recent market volatility, with investors increasingly concerned about rising bond yields, the state of the U.S. and China's trade relationship and global growth.
The Chinese yuan was down against the U.S. dollar, hitting a fresh 21-month low, after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin criticized Beijing's "lack of currency transparency," saying that its currency practices pose "major challenges to achieving fairer and more balanced trade."
While Mr. Mnuchin stopped short of formally labeling China a "currency manipulator," the move came after months of sharp rhetoric between the Trump and Xi administrations. Washington also announced it was pulling out of a 144-year-old postal treaty with Beijing that helped Chinese retailers.
The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the currency against a basket of 16 others, was last down 0.1%.
In 2015 and 2016, the yuan's weakness sparked a capital flight from China and a sharp fall in domestic stocks, and market participants now expect further currency weakness. The yuan may fall a further 5% in the coming 12 months, said Jonas David , a strategist at UBS Chief Investment Office.
"Slowing growth in the Chinese economy, further fiscal and monetary easing and a diminishing current account surplus: We think these all point toward gradual yuan weakness," Mr. David said.
While there was no immediate catalyst for Thursday's selloff in China , the continued slowdown in the country's credit growth was the biggest driver of weakness in its equity market, Macquarie economists said in a note.
Worries that growth may be slowing in the world's second-largest economy have sharpened investors' focus on Chinese economic figures, and assets could take another hit if analyst forecasts for slowing growth in 2018's third quarter are proven correct when those figures are released Friday.
Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal forecast growth of 6.6% versus 6.7% in the second quarter, with analysts pointing to softer data in both China's production and consumption sectors.
"People are worried that China's slowing is more real than in 2015" said Shawn Snyder , head of investment strategy at Citi Personal Wealth Management. "Some companies, like Apple and Louis Vuitton , are also talking about Chinese demand slowing."
Elsewhere, investors were watching for any further signs of political strife in Europe , with negotiations for the U.K. to leave the European Union showing no end in sight, and Italian budget negotiations with European lawmakers also dragging on.
In commodities, Brent crude oil was down 1% at $79.24 a barrel and gold was up 0.2% at $1,224.35 a troy ounce.
