TOKYO—Global stocks drifted lower Tuesday in the wake of Wall Street’s tumble into a bear market, as investors anxiously contemplated a new and uncertain world of higher interest rates, international conflict, and recession fears.
Shares traded down in Europe, erasing brief gains after the markets opened, while Asian shares fell but later recovered some gains.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index was off 0.5 percent after opening higher. France’s CAC 40 was off 1.33 percent, the DAX was down 0.55 percent and the FTSE fell 0.4 percent. In Asia, Shanghai advanced, while Hong Kong ended flat and Tokyo declined.
Tuesday’s market action follows downbeat headlines from Monday on Wall Street, where the benchmark S&P 500 lost 3.9 percent, taking it 21.8 percent below its peak. That meant a bear market, when an index has fallen 20 percent or more from a recent high for a sustained period of time….