Stocks Head Into Stormy October, Dollar Defies Ugly Mood

Read MoreLONDON–European stocks sank to two-month lows on Friday after slides in Asia and on Wall Street, with euro zone inflation data expected to hit a 13-year high to compound investor fears over surging prices combining with stuttering growth. On the first day of October, the month for some of history’s most infamous market routs, the STOXX index of 600 companies fell 0.9 percent, hitting its weakest level since mid-July. The MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.4 percent, with U.S. stock futures pointing to further falls. With stellar economic growth figures now in the rear view mirror, markets were looking ugly going into October, Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets, said. Data overnight showed that Asia’s manufacturing activity broadly stagnated in September as signs of slowing Chinese growth weighed on the region’s economies. “There is a sense that with October’s reputation, worries about surging energy prices, …