Global equity markets were soft yesterday, weighed down by lower commodity prices at the end of a volatile quarter as a rally prompted by the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook fizzled out. 
At the European close, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index was down 0.8% and Paris sank 1.3% as investors reacted to news that eurozone consumer prices fell this month despite the European Central Bank boosting its already massive stimulus programme to beat deflation. 
Capital Economics analyst Jonathan Loynes called the inflation data “very weak”, saying they kept “pressure on the Bank for yet more policy support”. 
Outside the eurozone, London shed 0.5% as traders brushed aside official data showing Britain’s economy grew faster than expected last year. 
“A mixed lead from Asia, a pullback in oil prices and end-of-month repositioning weighed on European markets on the final day of a very volatile first quarter,” said Jasper Lawler, analyst at traders CMC Markets. 
Wall Street treaded water on the eve of US jobs data. 
World oil prices fell further yesterday, extending the previous day’s heavy losses as a smaller-than-expected increase in US stockpiles failed to stem worries about the stubborn global supply glut. 
Copper also sank heavily, weighing on the resources sector. 
“The sharp reversal in oil prices on Wednesday in combination with a four-week low in the price of copper has prompted some profit taking in UK-listed miners including BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto,” noted Lawler. 
World markets had soared Wednesday after Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen indicated that the US central bank was unlikely to raise interest rates in the first half of this year, citing ongoing concerns about 
the slow global economic growth. 
But Asian equities experienced mixed fortunes yesterday as profit-taking set in, one day before the release of key economic data in China and the US. 
Investors will now be watching out for China’s March manufacturing activity, released today, for the latest snapshot of the mainland economy. That is followed by official US jobs figures later in the day. 
In Hong Kong, shares in Chinese firm Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties soared 20% after its parent firm said it was considering buying back all its shares—just 16 months after listing. 
Billionaire Wang Jianlin, who owns Dalian Wanda Group, is looking to buy the firm back for HK$48 a share, the price it listed, marking a 24-percent premium to its Wednesday close. 
Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) yesterday cut its outlook on China from stable to negative, warning that economic rebalancing was taking longer than expected.