Asian, European Stocks Broadly Down As Oil Futures Slide

Global stock markets were broadly lower Thursday, barring a few Asian markets as crude oil futures slid after the U.S. announced that the country’s crude stocks had reached yet another record high, renewing concerns about oversupply.

In Europe, major bourses were down on the last trading day of the month and the first quarter, with France’s CAC 40 down 1.07 percent while London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.60 percent and Germany’s DAX down 0.62 percent. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.92 percent.

Asia markets ended mixed on Thursday, with some markets partially losing mid-week gains made following U.S. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's affirmation to move slowly in raising interest rates.

Japan's Nikkei 225 swung between gains and losses before finishing lower by 0.71 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.11 percent and China’s Nasdaq-style ChiNext index was down 0.47 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed 0.13 percent lower and South Korea’s Kospi index was down 0.31 percent. In India the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.01 percent.

In the U.S., stock futures on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were down 0.15 percent while stock futures on the Dow Jones index were down 0.12 percent.