Global markets took a beating on Friday as US jobs data boosted the likelihood of further aggressive interest rate hikes, while bank shares wobbled amid the collapse of SVB.
After sharp losses on Thursday, Wall Street’s top indices had managed to peek into the green before regulators closed the troubled Silicon Valley Bank, sending stocks tumbling into the red again.
European equity markets ended sharply lower, with London stocks sliding 1.7 percent while both Paris and Frankfurt dropped 1.3 percent.
Asian stocks also posted steep losses.
Markets were rocked after SVB, which specialises in venture-capital financing, on Thursday announced a stock offering and offloaded securities to raise much-needed cash as it struggled with falling deposits. In reaction, the firm’s shares collapsed 60 percent in New York on Thursday and trading was suspended Friday morning, before regulators announced they had closed the bank. The move makes SVB the largest retail bank to fail since 2008.