Growing doubts U.S. President Donald Trump will be able to deliver on a promise of tax cuts that has powered stocks markets to record highs pushed shares lower on Wednesday and drove investors to seek safety in gold and the yen.
The dollar touched a four-month low against the Japanese currency, whose strength helped push Tokyo stocks to a three-week low, while the euro held close to its highest since early February.
European shares opened lower after Asian shares suffered their biggest percentage daily fall since mid-December and, on Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell by more than 1 percent for the first time since Oct. 11.
Waning risk appetite also hit commodities: Brent crude oil fell 20 cents to $50.76 a barrel, while copper fell 0.5 percent to $5.747 a ton.
The main factor behind the sell-off in risky assets was doubt that Trump would be able to deliver on his agenda for economic growth, including tax cuts and relaxed regulation, any time soon.
European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) fell 0.9 percent to a two-week low.
FTSE 100 index (.FTSE) fell 0.9 percent.
The dollar was flat against a basket of currencies but down 0.3 percent versus the yen, having hit a four-month low of 111.25 yen earlier in the day.
The euro dipped 0.2 percent to $1.0790.
Sterling fell 0.1 percent to $1.2463.
Source Yahoo Finance
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