AlQa'dah 17, 1436, September 01, 2015, SPA -- Global stock markets fell sharply Tuesday and Wall Street was set to open lower as gloomy economic data from China and Japan augured further uncertainty for investors after a brutal August, AP reported. Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 2.2 percent to 6,110.61 and Germany's DAX sagged 2.5 percent to 10,003.60. France's CAC 40 lost 2 percent to 4,558.76. U.S. markets also looked set to start on a weak footing, with Dow futures down 1.9 percent and S&P futures 2 percent lower. An official index of Chinese manufacturing fell to a three-year low last month in another sign of slower-than expected growth in the world's No. 2 economy. The manufacturing index based on a survey of factory purchasing managers fell to 49.7 points in August from 50.0 in July, indicating a contraction. China's Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.2 percent to 3,166.62 after dipping nearly 5 percent earlier in the session. Japan's Nikkei 225 was also volatile, dropping 3.8 percent to 18,165.69. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong sank 2.2 percent to 21,185.43. Stocks also fell in South Korea and Australia. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.01 to $48.19 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had surged $3.98, or nearly 9 percent, to $49.20 on Monday after the U.S. Energy Department cut its oil output estimate. The dollar fell to 120.01 yen from 121.20 yen on Monday. The euro rose to $1.1269 from $1.1225.
