· Global equities tumbled and safe-haven sovereign bonds surged Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump’s unexpected threat of tariffs on Mexican goods added to fears that escalating trade wars will push the U.S. and other major economies into recession.

key measure of Chinese manufacturing activity for May also came in below expectations, raising questions about the effectiveness of Beijing’s stimulus steps and the health of the global economy.

“It is a nasty slowdown, it looks likely to be taking longer than we thought. Many thought that the slow down would be in Q1 and the recovery in Q2, but clearly everything that we see in May is telling us this will be pushed back into Q3 or Q4,” Milligan added.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.76%.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 354.84 points, or 1.41%, to 24,815.04, the S&P 500 lost 36.8 points, or 1.32%, to 2,752.06 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 114.57 points, or 1.51%, to7,453.15.

The benchmark S&P 500 dropped nearly 6.6% for the month, its first monthly decline for the year to date, after hitting a record high in late April.

· European stocks traded sharply lower Friday afternoon after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to impose a 5% tariff on all Mexican imports from June 10, stirring fears of a global recession.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 finished provisionally down 0.8% having earlier hit its lowest point since February 19. Autos led the losses with a 2% drop as all but two sectors traded in the red. Utilities stocks were the best performer, up 0.22% during Friday trade.

· Stocks in Asia declined in Monday morning trade amid increasing concerns over the state of global trade.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.21% in early trade as index heavyweights Softbank Group and Fanuc saw their shares drop more than 2% each. The Topix index also shed 1.16%.

Over in South Korea, the Kospi traded fractionally lower as shares of LG Chem declined more than 1%.

In Australia, the ASX 200 slipped 0.56% as almost all sectors traded down.

Reference: CNBC, Reuters