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World stock market sell-off deepens

A currency trader walks by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Korea Exchange Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014. Asian stock markets sank Thursday after a torrid session on Wall Street triggered by jitters the recovery in the world's No. 1 economy is weakening. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) A currency trader walks by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Korea Exchange Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014. Asian stock markets sank Thursday after a torrid session on Wall Street triggered by jitters the recovery in the world's No. 1 economy is weakening. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

By Associated Press October 16, 2014 1 min read

LONDON (AP) – The global sell-off in stock markets is deepening, with European indexes in particular suffering heavy losses Thursday.

After being stable on the open, the German DAX was down 1.8 percent. Markets in economically weaker European countries fared worse – Spain’s was down 3.4 percent and Italy’s 3.5 percent.

Wall Street was expected to drop on the open, with Dow and S&P 500 futures down 1.1 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. Asian markets closed lower earlier, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 diving 2.2 percent.

Investors are worried about a downturn in global growth and inflation. Slowdowns in Europe and China are seen threatening the U.S. recovery.