NEW YORK, Nov 10 — World equity indexes dropped yesterday as disappointing trade data in world No. 2 economy China stoked concerns over weakening global growth, while oil prices slipped.

All three major US stock indexes were down more than 1 per cent, while European shares closed 1.1 per cent lower.

Fresh builds at the delivery point for US crude futures also dragged down oil prices, offsetting bullish OPEC demand projections.

Data showed China’s October exports fell for a fourth month, while imports also dropped, leaving the nation with a record high trade surplus of US$61.64 billion (RM270.44 billion). The United States is one of China’s biggest trade partners.

Also not boding well for world growth, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development cut its 2015 global growth forecast again. But it said the US Federal Reserve should raise interest rates as the US economic recovery gains steam.

Recent economic data including Friday’s US jobs report has boosted bets for a December rate hike by the Fed, which has added to volatility in US stocks.

“There are short-term, myopic concerns about a Fed rate hike,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which has about US$50 million in assets under management.

“Bond and stock prices will decline when the Fed makes that first announcement, but ultimately, stocks will thrive because it will prove the US economy is healthy enough to stand on its own,” Dollarhide said.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 199.29 points, or 1.11 per cent, to 17,711.04, the S&P 500 lost 23.59 points, or 1.12 per cent, to 2,075.61 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 61.86 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 5,085.26.

Growth sectors, including energy and consumer discretionaries, led the decline.

“Market participants are of the view (after strong US jobs data on Friday) that the worries about the global economy are overdone but then this weekend we saw some disappointment in the China exports,” said Emile Cardon, a strategist at Rabobank in the Netherlands.

MSCI’s all-country world index fell 0.9 per cent, while European shares closed down 1.1 per cent.

Shares in Portugal, where an agreement between leftist parties to work together to form a government unnerved investors, led the European market lower.

In the oil market, Brent crude for December delivery fell 23 cents to settle at US$47.19 a barrel, while December US crude fell 42 cents to settle at US$43.87 after falling nearly 5 per cent last week.

Investors took profits on the greenback’s surge last week backed by a surprisingly strong jobs report, causing the dollar to fall against major currencies.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of major currencies, fell after earlier approaching a 6-1/2-month high. The index was last down 0.2 per cent at 98.978.

US Treasuries prices extended recent losses as traders raised bets the Fed will raise rates in December.

Benchmark 10-year Treasuries notes were down 4/32 in price with a yield of 2.349 per cent. The 10-year yield earlier touched 2.377 per cent, the highest intraday since July 21.

“People are really buying into the December rate-hike story,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, interest rates strategist at TD Securities in New York. — Reuters