The global equity rout accelerated on Wednesday, sending the FTSE All-World index into bear market territory for part of the day as oil prices slid to new lows and investors fled for the safety of high-rated government bonds.
Fear rippled through global markets, taking the UK, French and Japanese stocks to more than 20 per cent below their 2015 highs — the common definition of a bear market — and compounding equities’ worst start to a year on record.
The US S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq briefly fell more than 3 per cent to more than 10 per cent below their prior peaks, meaning they entered a market “correction”, but rallied in afternoon trading, with the S&P 500 closing down 1.2 per cent.