There hasn’t been a worse quarter in the financial markets since 2011. Analysts are seeing the third quarter of 2015 as the combination of traumatic events that hit the world’s two largest economies.
It began with China’s market rout which caused an unrelenting collapse in commodity prices. This followed on the heels of Greece’s dramatic debt default which nearly brought down the euro and roused the Eurozone to re-evaluate its position in world markets.
China’s currency devaluation as well talks of a Fed interest rate hike added to the situation and made the past three months a summer investors will never forget.
An analyst at Barclay’s bank told one reporter that "Global equities are closing in on their worst quarter since 2011, with a number of factors fueling fears in an already jittery market, including weak global growth, driven by deceleration in emerging markets, particularly China.”
Worst Performer
China's benchmark Shanghai Composite appeared to be one of the world's worst performers, on track for a 25 percent loss. In Asia-Pacific, indices are also headed for their weakest quarterly performance in four years. Out of Asia-Pacific's 15 major stock markets, only one appeared to end the third quarter in positive territory.
The region's weakest market after Shanghai was Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, which was set to close out the quarter 20 percent lower. Among other major losers, the Nikkei 225 and Indonesia's Jakarta Composite were both headed for 15 percent declines.
The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq were headed for only a 9 percent loss. In Europe, Germany's Dax was set for a 15 decline, 11 percent for the French CAC, 8 percent for Italy and 13 percent for the Ibex.
Are the emerging markets to blame for the global slowdown?