Markets tumble as investors blink before the Fed does.

For Marketplace, I'm Novasafo and for David Brancaccio.

A lot of contradictory information is causing anxiety in markets around the world.

This week Japan's Central Bank raised its benchmark interest rate, the Bank of England

lowered, and the Federal Reserve held rates steady, but it signaled a cut in September.

At the same time there have been some disappointing corporate results as well as some lackluster

economic reports here in the U.S. on manufacturing and construction.

All of that is adding up to a rough day for markets overseas. The BBC's

Leanna Byrne has more. Japanese stocks took a big nose dive today falling like we

haven't seen since the early pandemic. The Nikai 225 closed nearly 6% down,

marking its second biggest point drop ever. This follows Wall Street's plunge,

as investors worry about the US economy and a stronger

yen which isn't good for Japanese exporters. In Europe technology stocks hit their

lowest level in over six months. The stocks Europe 600 technology index dropped 3.6% its lowest since January.

And it follows a recent sell-off in high-tech stocks globally because investors are worried

about whether big investments

and artificial intelligence will actually pay off. I'm the BBC's Leanna Byrne for

marketplace. For more direction markets will be closely watching the

Labor Department's jobs report.

The official tally of hiring and unemployment for the month of July

comes out later this morning.

The report is closely scrutinized at the best of times,

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