European, Asian stocks hit by U.S. data.

European and Asian shares were mostly lower at the time of writing following sharp losses on Wall Street yesterday after poor U.S. manufacturing numbers added to disappointing Chinese PMI data and the turmoil in emerging markets to further hurt sentiment. However, U.S. stock futures were enjoying a bit of a rebound. The Nikkei fell 4.2% for its biggest one-day drop since June, although it's worth remembering that the index soared 57% last year.