Fears over the sustainability of the global economic recovery hit the major equity indexes, with the Shanghai Composite index being pummeled by nearly 6% and Tokyo’s Nikkei index plunging by over 3%. Risk aversion was the key driver in the foreign exchange market on Monday, prompting a rally in both the dollar and yen. The greenback pushed the pound to its lowest level in one-month beneath the 1.63-level and the euro to a two-week low just beneath the 1.4050-handle. The US equity bourses tumbled at the start of the week, albeit faring better than their Asian counterparts. The Nasdaq led the declines, tumbling by over 2.5% while the Dow Jones was lower by 1.75% and the S&P 500 losing 2.15% by the afternoon session.

US economic reports released earlier today included the August NY Fed manufacturing survey, June TIC data, and the NAHB housing index. The NY Fed manufacturing survey improved by more than expected in August to 12.08, sharply beating forecasts for an improvement to 3.00 versus a reading of -0.55 from July. The June TIC report revealed net purchases of $71.3 billion versus revised net sales of $36.9 billion in the month prior.