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HONG KONG — World markets retreated Friday as weaker-than-expected reports about U.S. jobs and manufacturing deepened fears of an anemic recovery in the world's largest economy.
Major Asian markets like Japan and Hong Kong dropped around 2 percent or more, the dollar lagged against the yen and oil prices slid below $70 a barrel as traders scaled back their bets on riskier investments. European bourses followed Asia lower in early trade.
The losses followed a steep fall on Wall Street after weekly jobless claims and monthly manufacturing data in the U.S. came in far worse than expected, suggesting the economy was still a long way from a strong recovery.
The news also raised concerns a key September jobs report, due later Friday, would disappoint.
"The U.S. economy is still in the doldrums," said Francis Lun, general manager of Fulbright Securities Ltd. in Hong Kong. "We're still not seeing a recovery in the unemployment, which means consumer spending will not recover anytime soon."
As trading opened in Europe, Britain's FTSE-100 lost 0.6 percent, Germany's DAX declined 0.7 percent and France's CAC-40 swooned 1.1 percent.
Japan's Nikkei 225 average dropped 246.77 points, or 2.5 percent, to 9,731.87, with shares of carmakers like Toyota and Nissan especially hard hit. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 579.96, or 2.8 percent, to 20,375.49 after being closed Thursday for a national holiday.
Elsewhere, Taiwan's index shed 1.8 percent, Australia's market lost 2.1 percent and Indonesia's benchmark was down 0.2 percent.
South Korea's market was closed for a holiday as were those in mainland China and India.
U.S. futures pointed to lower opening on Wall Street as investors braced for monthly unemployment figures expected to show an increase in unemployment despite nascent signs of life in the economy. Dow futures were down 31, or 0.3 percent, at 9,440.
Wall Street economists expect America's jobless rate to rise slightly to 9.8 percent, from 9.7 percent in August. Employers are forecast to have cut 180,000 jobs, which would be the fewest since August 2008.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow fell 203.00, or 2.1 percent, to 9,509.28, its lowest close since Sept. 8.
Even with the drop, the Dow is still up 45.3 percent from a 12-year low of 6,547 in early March.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 27.23, or 2.6 percent, to 1,029.85, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 64.94, or 3.1 percent, to 2,057.48.
Oil prices fell in Asia, with benchmark crude for November delivery down $1.12 at $69.71. The contract added 21 cents to settle at $70.82 on Thursday.
The dollar weakened to 89.34 yen from 89.51 yen. The euro was higher at $1.4543 from $1.4529.
