European stocks sank lower on Tuesday as pressure from the US continued to bring down the investor mood on the other side of the pond.
After a disappointing start to the final quarter of the year, mining giants and retail stocks helped drag down London’s FTSE 100.
It moved 40.56 points lower, or 0.54%, to close at 7,470.16.
The FTSE 250 suffered bigger losses, dropping by more 1.65% to hit its lowest levels this year.
Treasury yields – the interest paid on US government bonds – have been rising to multi-year highs, putting pressure on stock markets in the US and overseas.
It comes amid ongoing concerns over interest rates staying higher for longer, and a recent spike in oil prices putting pressure on inflation.
Elsewhere in Europe, Germany’s Dax plunged to a six-month low on Tuesday, closing 1.06% lower. France’s Cac 40 declined by 1.01%.
Over in the US, the S&P 500 was down 1.45% and Dow Jones was down 1.25% by the time European markets closed.
Axel Rudolph, senior market analyst for IG, said: “As the US 10-year Treasury yield hits 4.75% and that of the 30-year bond advances past the 4.80% mark, both at 2007 highs, global stock indices resume their September rout and trade in multi-months lows.
“Stronger-than-expected US job openings, indicating a robust labour market, reinforce the ‘rates higher for longer’ fear that market players have and leads to risk-off sentiment with oil, gold and silver also seeing declines.”
The price of Brent crude oil was up by 0.35% to 91.03 US dollars per barrel, coming down from the highs reached earlier this month.
The pound was down by about 0.1% to 1.2066 US dollars, and up by 0.1% to 1.1545 euros.
In company news, fast food chain Greggs said that sales were up 21% in the three months to the end of September, and said the pressures of inflation are starting to ease.
The pasty maker said that struggling customers who “are looking to make their money go further” have opted for its cheap range of food.
The business has expanded the number of shops it runs by 82 since the start of the year, taking its total to 2,410. Shares in the company closed down 3.5%.
Shares in Boohoo plummeted earlier in the day after warning that sales might fall by as much as 17% this year.
The forecast of a 12-17% reduction was much higher than the previously guided 0-5% fall. Shares initially fell by more than a tenth, but ended the day down 2.3%.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Pearson, up 10.6p to 868p, Smiths Group, up 17p to 1,618p, Intertek, up 40p to 4,125p, WPP, up 6.6p to 716.6p, and Haleon, up 3p to 341.05p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Ocado, down 25.8p to 561p, United Utilities, down 37.6p to 913p, Burberry, down 67.5p to 1,826p, Anglo American, down 79p to 2,157.5p, and Severn Trent, down 77p to 2,272p.