Stock markets fell across the world, and emerging market currencies were under pressure after Chinese yuan weakened further. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 1.6 percent; Singapore's Straits Times index slumped 2.9 percent; Hong Kong Hang Seng plunged 2.4 percent; South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.6 percent; and China's Shanghai Composite index lost 1 percent. Growth in Chinese industrial production slowed to 6% in July, from a year earlier, from 6.8% in June, official data showed. Retail sales in China increased 10.5% in July from a year earlier, slowing from a 10.6% increase in June. The European markets also took a big hit. The UK'S FTSE-100 had lost 1.4 percent, France's CAC-40 had slumped 2.8 percent and Germany's DAX had slipped 2.4 percent in intra-day trade. Meanwhile, Germany's 2-year yield fell to a fresh record low of minus 0.29 percent, as investors feared that the deflationary pressures of a slowdown in China will sap growth around the rest of the world. The price of industrial commodities such as oil and copper fell further-copper hit a 6-year low. And the prospect of a US interest rate hike next month also dimmed, which dragged the dollar and US Treasury yields lower.