Risk aversion increased dramatically yesterday as the spectre of tighter Chinese policy – and its potential impact on the global recovery – and fresh concerns about the outlook for the US financial sector unsettled the markets' mood.
US and European equities suffered their biggest falls of the year and commodities and high-yielding currencies fell broadly as investors switched to the perceived safety of government bonds and the dollar.
The moves initially came in response to news that Chinese authorities had instructed some leading banks to stop lending for the rest of the month in a bid to curb the availability of credit and head off inflation.