Markets tumble as China growth fears mount

Data yesterday from the world's second largest economy showed last month's factory output rose by the lowest level since the global financial crisis of 2008. Retail sales also grew at the slowest rate for the period since 2004, while  reports at the weekend showed an unexpected plunge in overseas shipments. The dismal news prompted a raft of downgrades from analysts who lowered their annual forecasts for Chinese growth, sparking a wide-spread sell-off across equity markets. The Japanese Nikkei 225 and the Topix both tumbled over 3%, while the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 was off 0.9%,...