World stocks slumped on Friday, April 20, as concerns about a global slowdown in smartphone demand pressured the technology sector while oil prices fell after U.S. President Donald Trump said prices were artificially high.
The MSCI All Country World Index, MIWD00000PUS, which was down 0.3 percent on the day, was on track for its second week in the black after a strong start to the corporate earnings season.
However, it has struggled to recover all of its losses since a violent selloff knocked it off a record high in February.
A strong earnings season could offset fears of slowing global growth and help stock markets recover from a turbulent first quarter which saw a spike in volatility, increased trade tensions between the United States and China, and spiking geopolitical tensions in the Middle East over Syria.
“While fundamentals remain robust, geopolitics and trade war fears, concerns over slowing global growth, and idiosyncratic issues in the tech sector have all weighed,” Deutsche Bank strategists wrote in note to clients, noting that a full-blown trade war between the U.S. and China was a major risk.
“In equities we see the recent correction as overdone, and the first quarter earnings season could act as the needed circuit breaker.”
Futures indicated a positive opening for Wall Street following strong earnings from industrial heavyweights General Electric and Honeywell.
They were still set for a second consecutive week of gains, buoyed by tightening supplies and continued support from OPEC and its allies on supply cuts.
Earlier, in Asia, shares slipped as a warning from the world’s largest contract chipmaker knocked the tech sector.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS lost 1.1 percent, again led by a 1.6 percent fall in technology.
Shares in Europe were down 0.2 percent, but remain up half a percent on the week and set for their fourth straight week of gains.
