Asian stocks and Wall Street suffered their worst day of the year after weak German trade data fueled concerns that Europe is sliding into recession. European shares also opened significantly down on Friday.

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Germany reported Thursday the biggest monthly plunge in exports in five years. The data came hot on the heels of a string of dismal data from Germany in recent weeks that has fed anxieties about recession in the eurozone.

Wall Street stocks slumped 2 percent on Thursday and Japan's Nikkei share average also skidded 1.5 percent on Friday on the news. European shares opened down in early trading on Friday, with Germany's DAX index sinking to a near one-year low.

Concerns about global economic growth also hit oil prices hard, with Brent oil prices falling to $89.24 a barrel, its lowest level since mid-2012.

With finance ministers and global investors pinning their hopes on Europe’s largest economy and powerhouse lifting the EU trading bloc out of the doldrums, the data sent the markets running.

“Horror story”?

Carsten Brzeski, economist at ING, described the current situation in Germany as a “horror story”, according to the UK’s Guardian.

Many investors fear that the US economy - the world's largest, but comprising less than a quarter of the entire global economy - cannot escape unscathed when Europe is stalling and many other big economies, including China, Japan and Brazil, face their own hardships.

However, many market players feel there is no need to panic yet, with Berenberg Bank economist Christian Schulz stating that the, “fundamentally sound German economy should rebound quickly. We expect a return to significant growth in early 2015."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, REUTERS)



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