Global stocks extend slump as global growth worries mount

TOKYO (Reuters) - Global stocks extended their slump on Monday, with U.S. equity futures and Asian shares sliding on worries over slowing growth and fears that a fresh flare-up in tensions between Washington and Beijing could quash chances of a trade deal. Traders returned from the weekend to face a growing wall of worry, with the world’s largest economies — the United States, China and Japan — all reporting weaker-than-expected data which pointed to moderating activity. Investors were also bracing for a Tuesday vote on British Prime Minister Theresa May’s European Union divorce deal, which looks set to be rejected by parliament, raising fears of a chaotic exit in March. S&P futures ESc1 fell 0.8 percent and Dow futures YMc1 lost 0.8 percent in the Asian day. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS slid 1.4 percent to a near three-week low. The Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC retreated 0.8 percent. Australian stocks lost 2 percent, brushing its lowest level since December 2016, and South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 fell 1.1 percent. Japan's Nikkei .N225 shed 2.3 percent. Data early in the session showed the economy contracted the most in over four years in the third quarter as companies cut capital spending amid uncertainty over global demand and trade tensions.