Global markets take fright at cocktail of geopolitical risks

US/China trade dispute, US interest rates, Brexit and Italy's budget spook investors

Wall Street and European stock markets followed Asian shares lower on Tuesday, as investors around the world took fright at the increasingly fractious global geopolitical outlook.

Investors are growing increasingly worried about a cocktail of risks that could act as a significant drag on the world economy. Potential headwinds include the trade dispute between the US and China, rising US interest rates, the fallout from the death of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the budget dispute between the EU and Italy.