European Markets See Sharp Slump, Asian Shares, US Stock Futures Down

European stocks fell to a 16-month low Monday, extending last week’s slump as investor sentiment was dampened by falling bond yields and crude oil prices declined another 2 percent after a meeting between OPEC producers Saudi Arabia and Venezuela provided no indication that the countries would take measures to boost prices.

Germany’s DAX was the biggest loser, down 2.4 percent, while the French CAC 40 declined by 2.29 percent and London’s FTSE 100 was down 1.76 percent. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 2.5 percent.

Asian markets saw thin trade as bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan are closed all week for the Lunar New Year holiday. In other parts, markets were mixed: Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 1.1 percent up — snapping from a 4-day losing streak — and India’s S&P BSE Sensex fell 1.34 percent.

In the U.S., stock futures on the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Index were down 1.23 percent while Nasdaq futures fell 1.7 percent. U.S. stocks fell Friday after an official U.S. jobs report showed that the country had added a lesser-than-expected number of jobs in January. However, the unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent from 5 percent, while wages rose 0.5 percent.

Weak economic data in the U.S. in 2016 has raised doubts amid investors about whether the U.S. Federal Reserve would still commit to steady increases in the interest rate in the year, according to Reuters.

"Investors are back in wait-and-see mode ahead of Fed Chair Yellen's testimony to lawmakers on Wednesday anxious for clues about the Fed's rate rise trajectory," Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said in a note Monday, CNBC reported.