U.S. Poised for Drop as Asia, Europe Stocks Tumble

European and Asian stock markets fell on Monday as worries continue about a possible U.S. recession that could affect other leading markets.

Asia's losses were led by China's Shanghai composite Index which plummeted to close down more than 7 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was off 2 percent in early afternoon trading. U.S. stocks were set to open lower.

Asia's main indexes were down, led by China's Shanghai composite Index which plummeted 7.2 percent, or 359.87 points to close at 4,637.81. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 4.25 percent or 1,068.76. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 3.97 percent or 541.25 to 13.087.91. India's Sensex dropped 1.14 percent, or 208.88 to 18, 152.78.

Stocks in Europe early afternoon trading had slightly less steep falls. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index was down 2.17 percent, or 127.60 points to 5,741.40. Germany's CAC 40 Index fell 1.37 percent or 66.97 to 4,811.15. Germany's DAX index slipped 1.44 percent, or 98.25 points to 6,718.49

U.S. stock futures were tracking lower before the market open. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 49 points to 12,196 at 8:08 a.m. Standard and Poor's futures were 5.30 points lower to 1,328.80. Nasdaq 100 futures were off by 5 points.