Wall Street regains ground after losses

US stock indexes regained ground after a sharp decline at the opening, helping to calm global markets.

Investors were returning after sharp losses for US shares on Friday, when the benchmark Dow Jones lost 2.5%, its biggest drop since June 2016.

The decline followed months of market increases, which had fuelled concerns that share prices were over valued.

Technology stocks helped lead markets higher. Intel, Apple and Microsoft were the top three gainers on the Dow.

After a sharp early loss the Dow recovered to trade just slightly lower, the broader S&P 500 also had modest losses and the technology focused Nasdaq Composite was slightly higher.

London’s main share index, the FTSE 100, was down 1% at mid-afternoon, also regaining ground after early falls.

Earlier, the biggest markets in Asia fell between 1% and 2.5%.

Strong wage growth on Friday had spooked investors, by raising the possibility of an acceler- ated pace of interest rate rises.

Any fall in shares has to be put into the context of some very good years for investors.

The Dow Jones rose more than 25% in 2017 - a year which was also unusual for its lack of sharp moves.

On Friday there was a hefty 4% loss for shares in Apple, which had been one of the markets’ star performers in recent years.

That selling came despite a solid trading update from the company.