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Reuters
NEW YORK
Stock prices fell on major world markets on Wednesday after disappointing Chinese and European factory data, while the US dollar slipped on fresh doubts about a Federal Reserve interest rate rise in June.
Oil prices tumbled on expectations major oil producers would not reach a deal to freeze output at an OPEC meeting on Thursday.
US Treasury bond and German Bund yields fell on renewed bids for safer assets after the drop in stock and commodity prices.
"We are in a global low-growth environment. The latest manufacturing numbers are a confirmation of that," said Omar Aguilar, chief investment officer of equities with Charles Schwab Investment Management in New York.
Earlier Wednesday, a survey showed China's factory activity shrank for a 15th straight month in May as new orders fell, while a gauge on euro zone manufacturing activity declined to a three-month low last month.
U.S. manufacturers fared better than their overseas counterparts as they unexpectedly reported slightly faster growth in May according to the Institute for Supply Management, but data from Markit showed U.S. factory growth slipping to its lowest since 2009.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 51.39 points, or 0.29 percent, to 17,735.81, the S&P 500 declined 3.74 points, or 0.18 percent, to 2,093.22 and the Nasdaq Composite decreased 2.96 points, or 0.06 percent, to 4,945.09.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 fell 1 percent, led by the resources sector.
Toyko's Nikkei ended down 1.6 percent. The MSCI world index, which tracks shares in 45 countries, shed 0.2 percent, pulling away from a one-month high struck earlier this week.
Brent crude was last down 82 cents, or down 1.64 percent, at $49.07 a barrel. U.S. crude was last down 86 cents, or down 1.75 percent, at $48.24 per barrel.
Prospects of weak global economic growth may keep the U.S. central bank from raising interest rates at its policy meeting in two weeks. Futures market implied traders saw 21 percent chance of a rate hike at the Fed's upcoming meeting, down from 38 percent last week.
Bets on no action from the Fed stoked selling of the U.S. dollar. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six currencies, fell 0.45 percent at 95.463.
The U.S. currency fell sharply against the yen after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a delay on a planned sales tax hike. The greenback was down 1.0 percent at 109.48 yen.
The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury yield slipped about half a basis point to 1.828 percent, while 10-year Bund yield dipped to 0.139 percent.
Gold prices turned negative, erasing earlier gains after stronger-than-forecast data on U.S. manufacturing in May. Spot gold fell $4.33 or 0.36 percent, to $1,210.36 an ounce.
