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European stocks fall, Wall Street set to extend sell-off

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Semiconductor companies sink after Nvidia ( NVDA ) rout

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Oil prices hit weakest since December

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U.S. data keeps markets on edge

(Updates prices at 0747 GMT)

By Tom Wilson, Rae Wee and Tom Westbrook

LONDON/SINGAPORE, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Shares across the

world fell on Wednesday, pummelled by a drop in tech stocks

after a record sell-off for U.S. chipmaker Nvidia ( NVDA ) and as

expectations of fading global growth hit riskier assets, pushing

oil prices to multi-month lows.

European shares shed 1% by 0747 GMT, while other

major European markets from London to Frankfurt lost around

0.7%. Semiconductor companies were the biggest losers. ASML

Holdings dropped 5.3%.

The pain was set to continue on Wall Street, where stock

futures extended declines. S&P 500 futures eased 0.4% and

Nasdaq futures shed 0.6%.

Wall Street closed sharply lower on Tuesday, with AI darling

Nvidia ( NVDA ) sinking by a record $279 billion as investors

checked their enthusiasm for artificial intelligence.

September has historically been a bad month for stocks,

though analysts pointed to a confluence of factors behind the

rout, including weak U.S. manufacturing data.

"Volatility obviously is picking up," said Jason Teh, chief

investment officer at Vertium Asset Management. "We had a first

taste of it at the beginning of August...last night we had this

macro catalyst (and) the market's worried about further economic

slowdown."

Brent crude futures fell more than 1% to $72.86 a

barrel while U.S. crude was down 1.4% at $69.38, both

their lowest levels since December. They had fallen nearly 5% on

Tuesday.

Concerns over the sluggish outlook in China - the world's

biggest oil importer - and the possibility of a global slowdown

that would mean reduced fuel demand have exacerbated the decline

in oil prices.

Earlier, stock benchmarks in Tokyo and Taipei

led the slump in Asia, each falling more than 3%, while

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

was last 1.9% lower.

Asian tech stocks suffered, with Japanese chip-testing

equipment maker Advantest ( ADTTF ), a supplier to Nvidia ( NVDA ), down

7.7%. Taiwan's TSMC fell more than 5%.

"(There) was plenty of blame to go around. Nvidia ( NVDA ). Tech.

Soft spots in U.S. data. China gloom," said Vishnu Varathan,

head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan at Mizuho Bank.

A beneficiary of the fall in stocks, the safe-haven Japanese

yen strengthened by as much as 0.4% to 144.89 per dollar

. It last traded about 0.4% higher at 144.90.

The dollar was flat, supported by bids for safety.

DATA DUMP

U.S. economic data due this week includes figures on job

openings, jobless claims and the closely watched nonfarm

payrolls report out on Friday.

Given the Federal Reserve's labour market focus, Friday's

release could determine whether a rate cut expected this month

will be regular or super-sized.

"We reckon U.S. growth fears are overplayed and expect a

strong payrolls report on Friday," said Alex Loo, FX and macro

strategist at TD Securities.

Economists polled by Reuters expect the U.S. economy to have

added 160,000 jobs in August, a rebound from July's 114,000

increase.

Ahead of the releases, moves in currencies and U.S.

Treasuries were less marked than those seen in equities.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell

nearly two basis points to 3.8253%, while the two-year yield

fell more than three bps to 3.8528%.