* China factory activity shrinks at fastest pace in 3 years
* Dollar skids, S&P 500 falls 3 pct
* Crude oil futures drop
(Updates with oil settlements)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Sept 1 (Reuters) - World stock indexes and
commodities slumped on Tuesday as weak Chinese data revived
fears about the effect of China's economic health on the global
economy and fueled more market turmoil.
Oil prices settled down sharply, with Brent falling back
below $50 a barrel on concerns about global demand for petroleum
and ending a three-day rally that pushed crude up more than 20
percent.
All three major U.S. stock indexes fell over 3 percent, led
by declines in energy shares, and were in negative territory for
the year. The S&P 500 is now down 6.6 percent for the year so
far.
The CBOE Volatility index .VIX , known as Wall Street's
"fear gauge," was up 17.8 percent at 33.48, above its long-term
average of 20. The index had spiked to 53.29 last Monday.
The moves followed a stormy week in the markets, when
investors became increasingly concerned about further losses due
to slowing growth in China.
The selloff has raised doubts about earnings growth while
also fueling worries about whether central bank support could
make a difference after years of loose policy around the globe.
Comments by Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer
over the weekend appeared to keep alive chances of a U.S.
interest rate increase in September. ID:nL1N1140FO
Sparking Tuesday's selloff, surveys showed China's
manufacturing sector shrinking at its fastest pace in three
years while its services sector also cooled. ID:nL4N11721X
Adding to investor jitters, data showed U.S. factory
activity hit a more than two-year low in August.
"It's general risk aversion manifesting itself after a
really bad August," said Mohannad Aama, managing director, Beam
Capital Management LLC in New York. "The continued uncertainty
about China is definitely adding to worries."
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 540.57 points,
or 3.27 percent, to15,987.46, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 68.23
points, or 3.46 percent, to 1,903.95 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 159.78 points, or 3.35 percent, to 4,616.73.
MSCI's all-country stock index .MIWD00000PUS fell 2.4
percent and is down 7.1 percent for the year to date. The
pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 stocks index .FTEU3 closed down
2.8 percent.
Asian stocks, particularly in Japan .N225 , fell overnight.
In the oil market, Brent crude LCOc1 dropped 8.5 percent
to $49.56 a barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 fell 7.7 percent to
$45.41.
While shares and commodities remained the focus, the mood
was similarly wary in the currency and bond markets.
FRX/ GVD/EUR
U.S. short- and medium-term Treasuries prices rose, with
benchmark 10-year yields hitting a session low of 2.15 percent
after reaching a 1-1/2-week high of 2.22 percent on Monday. The
10-year note US10YT=RR was last up 6/32 in price.
The dollar sagged against the safe-haven yen and
low-yielding euro as the Chinese data drove investors to unwind
bets against the two currencies widely used to fund positions in
riskier assets.
The dollar fell more than 1 percent to 119.9 yen JPY= ,
while the euro rose 1 percent to $1.1332 EUR= .
Russia's ruble was among the hardest-hit emerging market
currency EMRG/FRX as the price of oil fell.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
China's volatile markets http://link.reuters.com/myh35w
China PMIs http://link.reuters.com/zut45w
Global assets in 2015 http://link.reuters.com/dub25t
European bourses in 2015 http://link.reuters.com/pap87v
Currencies vs dollar http://link.reuters.com/tak27s
World interest rates: http://link.reuters.com/xyb96s
Oil prices http://link.reuters.com/beb23v
Commodities performance http://link.reuters.com/rac73w
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
FRAGILE CHINA
The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine
Lagarde, summed up the global outlook in a speech in Indonesia,
where she said global economic growth was now likely to be
weaker than had been expected just a few months ago.
ID:nJ9N0ZG00U
She cited a slower recovery in major advanced economies and
a further slowdown in emerging nations and highlighted the need
to "be vigilant for spillovers" from China's stutters.
Spot gold XAU= rose to a session high of $1,147.16 an
ounce and was up 0.9 percent at $1,144.42 an ounce.
London Metal Exchange copper CMCU3 fell almost 1 percent
to $5,087.50 as markets reopened after a long holiday weekend.
Nickel slid 2 percent and aluminum skidded as well.