World stock markets plunged yesterday in a “perfect storm” as Europe headed to the polls amid fresh economic gloom, the China-US trade war raged on and beleaguered Prime Minister Theresa May delayed another Brexit vote.
Europe kicked off voting across the continent in a contest in which rising populist forces are hoping to make significant gains, threatening closer EU integration.
Britain's EU poll is an ironic twist for a country that decided almost three years ago to leave the bloc and whose leader had vowed to avoid the vote.
London's FTSE 100 shares index was down 1.4 per cent in afternoon deals as the government postponed a crucial Brexit vote following an outcry from hardline Brexiteers over concessions made by May - who faces intense speculation over her future.
The pound forged another four-month low as May faces being ousted after a revised plan to push through her Brexit agreement, which sparked the resignation of cabinet member Andrea Leadsom.
Eurozone indices took a battering yesterday, with Frankfurt and Paris losing 1.5 per cent or more as survey data showed the bloc's economic growth remained “subdued” in May.
Frankfurt also tanked as the key Ifo survey signalled confidence among German business leaders struck its lowest level in more than four years in May.
The European single currency meanwhile touched a near one-month dollar low.
On Wall Street, the Dow index lost around 250 points at the opening bell.
China-US trade frictions continue to dog investor sentiment, particularly in the tech sector after Washington blacklisted Chinese giant Huawei.
Traders ran for the hills, with no signs of a let-up in the tariffs stand-off between the world's top two economies.
Tensions between China and the US have increased after Donald Trump banned telecoms giant Huawei from the US market and prevented American firms from selling to it.
The move has led a number of companies around the world to cut back their business with the firm, including Google, Japan's Panasonic and EE in Britain, among others.
The row, which has seen the trade war widen to also become a battle over technology, has hammered the sector with major firms seeing their valuations tumble in recent weeks.
Back in Asia, Mumbai's Sensex soared more than two percent to break the 40,000 for the first time ever as traders welcomed polls indicating business-friendly Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP were on course to win another majority.
Oil prices plunged as global economic worries took their toll.