Global markets suffer worst losing streak in five years

Global markets chalked up their longest weekly losing streak in five years on Friday, as Wall Street reacted to worse-than-expected results from US tech giants.

The MSCI all-country world index, which tracks shares across stock markets in 47 developed and emerging countries, closed down 3.7% on Friday.

The fifth consecutive week of losses would represent its worst period since May 2013. The global index has dropped by 9.5% since the start of the month, the second largest sell-off of the year following turmoil in February.

Stock indexes across Europe fell sharply Friday as renewed aversion to assets considered risky, like stocks, took hold of investors who have been rattled by lingering concerns about the health of the global economy.

The commodities and oil-and-gas sector also weighed on the Europe’s markets as crude-oil prices traded sharply lower.

On Thursday, ECB President Draghi delivered no surprises at a news conference after the bank’s meeting, but said there could be some spillover from Italy’s budget battle with the European Union. He said the ECB wasn’t overly worried about it.

The European Commission Tuesday sent Italy back to the drawing board over its 2019 budget proposal and Italian Finance Minister Giovanni Tria said he sees no reason to present a revised budget.

Elsewhere, U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has been confronting challenges to her leadership as politicians express disgruntlement with her Brexit negotiations, with those discussions in a deadlock.

Asian shares skidded to 20-month lows, S&P futures fell sharply and China’s yuan weakened at the end of a turbulent week for financial markets on Friday, as anxiety over corporate profits added to lingering fears about global trade and economic growth.

The MSCI Asia index has been bruised by a heavy sell-off in the past several days, and is on course for its fifth weekly loss - its longest such streak since 2015. It has fallen more than 4 percent this week.