U.S. markets were closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday.

European Markets

European stocks plunged Monday and the euro tumbled, as investors piled into safe-haven assets amid rising fears over Europe's sovereign debt crisis and economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic. The Stoxx Europe 600 index slumped 4.1% to close at 223.45 Monday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year German government bond plunged to well below 2%, a new record, while Italian yields rose on fears the government's commitment to austerity and reform is weakening.

Europe's beleaguered banking sector was battered over concerns about growth as well as lawsuits filed against 17 lenders Friday by the top U.S. federal housing regulator, saying they sold $196 billion of risky home loans over four years to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac without adequately disclosing the risks. Further evidence of the weakness of the European economy came in weak purchasing managers index data from France, Germany and the euro zone as whole.

Shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, one of the banks named in the U.S. lawsuit, plunged 12%, while Deutsche Bank, another one of the banks, tumbled 8.9%.

Among others, Societe Generale skidded 8.6%, Barclays slumped 6.7%, and HSBC Holdings declined 3.8%. Political and economic issues also weighed in Italy, where the government has been coming under increasing pressure to step up approval of its austerity package, which some say is being watered down. Italy's FTSE MIB index sank 4.8% to 14333.91, with shares of Intesa Sanpaolo dropping 7%.

That focus on Italy comes after negotiations between Greece and international lenders stalled Friday amid disagreement over the nation's progress on reducing its budget deficit. The Athens General Index Monday fell 3.1% to 863.90, aided by a 9.9% slide in EFG Eurobank Ergasias.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union was trounced in state elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Sunday, the latest in a string of election defeats. The day's biggest decliner among Stoxx 600 components was Swiss specialty-chemical group Clariant, which plummeted 16% after it cut its full-year sales and profit outlook because of the strong Swiss franc and the global economic slowdown. Other chemical stocks followed Clariant lower, including BASF, down 5.6%, and Bayer, down 4.6%, both in Frankfurt.

Overall, the German DAX 30 index sank 5.3% to 5246.18. The French CAC 40 index finished 4.7% lower at 2999.54. BNP Paribas slumped 6.3% and Credit Agricole slid 5.5%. The Spanish IBEX 35 index dropped 4.7% to 8066.50, as Banco Santander stumbled 5.9%. Banks and resource stocks fell on concerns about global growth, driving the FTSE 100 down 3.6% to 5102.58. Royal Dutch Shell skidded 4.3% and miner Rio Tinto slumped 5%.

Asian Markets

Asian stock markets ended sharply lower Monday, with heavy losses for financials and exporters among others, after a disappointing U.S. jobs report heightened concerns about the health of the global economy. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended down 3% at 19616.40, while South Korea's Kospi plunged 4.4% to 1785.83. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.9% to 8784.46, while the Shanghai Composite slid 2% to 2478.74 and India's Sensex fell 0.6% to 16713.33. The performance in Asia tracked a weak finish for U.S. stocks Friday, after a report showed a net gain of zero jobs for the world's largest economy in August.

Hong Kong shares suffered the additional head winds Monday from a Purchasing Managers' Index that showed the territory in contraction for the first time since 2009. Financial stocks among were the worst performers in Asian trading. Nomura Holdings dropped 4.6% in Tokyo as the firm's U.S. unit became one of 17 lenders to face a government lawsuit over the sales of mortgage-backed securities ahead of the financial crisis. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group gave up 2.3% and Shinsei Bank closed 5.7% lower in Japan.

In Hong Kong, a 2.8% loss for HSBC Holdings dragged on the Hang Seng, given the bank's heavy weighting in the index. Bank of Communications gave up 4.5% and China Construction Bank dropped 3.7%. Property shares also took a heavy blow in Hong Kong, with China Overseas Land & Investment falling 3.4% and Henderson Land Development Co. down 4%. In Tokyo trading, exporters, especially of technology, slumped amid concerns about the global economy and a persistently strong yen. TDK shed 4.2%, Fujitsu fell 4.4%, Ricoh lost 4.1% and Sony dropped 4%. In Seoul, LG Electronics gave up 4.6% and Hynix Semiconductor lost 7.6%; in Hong Kong, Lenovo Group lost 3.4%.

Commodities

Base metals limped to a negative close on the London Metal Exchange Monday as growing concerns over global economic growth lessened the appeal of risk assets such as industrial metals and equities. At the PM kerb close, flagship three-month copper was 1.3% lower at $8,959 a metric ton, while nickel lost the most ground, ending the session down 2.7% at $20,890/ton. Equity markets saw heavy losses Monday, after a weak European business activity reading added to already-heightened fears of faltering global economic growth.

A closely-watched survey of business activity in the euro zone showed that economic growth slowed to a two-year low in August, with final euro-zone services purchasing managers' index coming in at 50.7, below the 51.1 in July. The reading came hot on the heels of Friday's weakest U.S. monthly payroll report since September 2010.