Markets Overview: (Source: Bloomberg, FT, Reuters, DJ Newswires)

The UK 100 Index is called to open down by 67pts after a shocking session in US trading lead to a rout in Asian equities and European futures.

The UK Index closed lower by 50pts yesterday after Chancellor George Osborne said "the UK cannot and will not be immune to a slowdown in global economic growth that looks unavoidable". Osborne's comments echoed those of European Central Bank President Mario Draghi who said there are signs the euro-area’s economic growth is slowing.

This followed the International Monetary Fund cutting its forecasts for global growth and data showing German industrial production contracted the most in more than five years.

Retailers Kingfisher (KGF.L) and Sports Direct (SPD.L) fell as much as 5% on concerns a slowing economy will hit the high street.

House builders suffered the same fate, Persimmon (PSN.L) and Barratt Developments (BDEV.L) shed 3.5%.

International Consolidated Airlines (IAG.L) and EasyJet (EZJ.L) continued to suffer as a result of the Ebola virus reaching Europe. Shares fell as much as 3%.

The notable risers for the session, of which there were few, were precious metal miners Fresnillo (FRES.L) and Randgold Resources (RRS.L), both gaining more than 6% as investors sought securities with 'safe haven' status.

In US markets the rout was aggressive. The Dow Jones fell 335pts to close at 16,659 bringing the decline from its record high of 17,350pts to nearly 700pts in just a month. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ slumped 2% also.

Asian markets followed US peers trading lower after Wall Street’s record drop last night, heading for six month lows. The Hang Seng was down by over 1.6% as the Hong Kong government also scrapped talks with protestors. With no surprises from the BoJ’s minutes the Nikkei followed suit and was lower by 1.7%. The worst performer was the Australian ASX, not helped by industrial metals and oil’s falling and speculation of a tariff on coal imposed by the Chinese.

In commodities, gold came back in favour as the equity rout meant investors seek safety, headed for its best week since June. Trading at $1224 an ounce from lows at the start of the week we have seen a 4% move already. WTI’s fall from grace now means we are in bear market territory, falling 2.3% to $83.60 trading at lowest levels since June 2012 amid speculation that output will continue to rise. Brent meanwhile slid another 2% to $88.11 a barrel which was its lowest levels since December 2010.

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Key Overnight Macro Data: (Source: Reuters/DJ Newswires)

• AU          Home Loans                                       Worse
• JP            Consumer Confidence Index      Worse

See Live Macro Calendar for full data line-up, incl. consensus expectations

UK Company Headlines: (Source: Reuters/DJ Newswires)

• Tullow says well offshore Gabon is "encouraging"
• Croda names Jez Maiden as group finance director
• National Express FD quits to join Croda International
• XP Power says Q3 trading in line with board's expectations
• Vedanta expects to resume mining iron ore in Goa in Q4
• Oxford Biomedica signs further contract with Novartis for LentiVector
• Russian retailer X5's sales up 23.1 pct in Q3
• Telecom Plus sees full-year profit up almost 50 percent
• Unite buys 2 new development sites
• Jupiter's assets under management drops to 31.7 bln stg