Stock market today: World shares decline, weighed down by Wall St’s tech retreat

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares retreated in Europe and Asia on Friday after a broad washout across Wall Street dragged U.S. stocks lower.

Widespread IT outages disrupted travel and communications around the world, causing flight delays and cancellations.

Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said Friday that the issue believed to be behind the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack. It said a fix was on the way. But hours after the problem was first detected, the disarray continued and escalated. CrowdStrike’s Nasdaq-traded shares were down 12% in premarket trading early Friday.

Germany’s DAX lost 0.7% to 18.228.68 and the CAC 40 in Paris declined 0.6% to 7,541.30. In London, the FTSE 100 shed 0.5% to 8,161.28. The future for the S&P 500 edged 0.1% lower and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%.

In Asian trading, benchmarks in Hong Kong and Taiwan dipped more than 2% as investors remained wary over China’s plans for reviving its slowing economy.

Chinese officials briefed reporters in Beijing on the outcome of a top-level meeting of the ruling Communist Party, providing some details of the sweeping blueprint it endorsed for making China a leader in technology, building its financial markets and raising living standards.

Their explanations remained relatively vague, though more details are expected in the weeks to come. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 2% to 17,417.68, while the Shanghai Composite index reversed early losses to gain 0.2%, closing at 2,982.31.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.2% to 40,063.79, while South Korea’s Kospi shed 1% to 2,795.46. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.8% to 7,971.60.

In Bangkok, the SET index lost 0.6%.

Taiwan’s Taiex fell 2.3%, as computer chip-maker Taiwan Semiconductor