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Jonathan Sudaria, a trader at London Capital Group, wrote in a note seen by Bloomberg: "European (SXXP) markets closed on an already dour note yesterday. Keeping markets equally bearish today will be the poor HSBC China PMI data, indicating a contraction."
The news provider reports research has found that Chinese manufacturing is decreasing, adding to concerns about the economic situation.
And this is reflected in today's markets with BHP, the world's largest mining company, down 2.1 per cent. The Stoxx 600 had slipped to 221.32, a fall of 0.9 per cent, at 08:02 GMT, while the S&P 500 index dropped one per cent.
Investors were hit by another blow yesterday as the US commerce department estimated its gross GDP has not risen as steeply as had been forecast.
Posted by Clive Arneil
