General discussion (MEI), page-5350

	Yikes!It was carnage on global markets today with very few places to hide. TheASX 200 indexhad its worst sell-off since May 2020,shedding 293 pts.or 3.7% to 7,649.60. The days of 8,000+ are well and truly in the rearview mirror after losing over 2% on Friday.
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2	Softer economic data on Friday sparked a market sell-down on Wall Street last Friday, which flowed into the Australian and Asian markets today.Non-farm payroll data came in softer than expected, while the jobless rate rose higher, fuelling concerns of a looming recession in the United States. TheU.S. economy added 114,000 jobsin July 2024,well below forecasts of 175,000and 179,000 in June. It is also the lowest level in three months and below the average monthly gain of 215,000 over the last year.
3	If you thought the ASX200index's loss of 3.7% was bad, spare a thought for the Japanese equities market, where the Nikkei 225 lost a whopping 12.2% today. South Korea’s KOSPI index wasn’t spared, falling by 8.7%