Markets fall as Argentina defaults

Stocks fell sharply on Thursday. The MSCI All-Country World Index fell 1.5 percent, weighed down by a 2.0 percent fall in the S&P 500.

In particular, Argentina's Merval Index plunged 8.4 percent on Thursday after the country defaulted for the second time in 12 years after the failure of last-ditch talks with holdout creditors. Argentina's bonds and currency also fell.

Economic data on Thursday had been mixed.

In the US, the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago business barometer fell to 52.6 in July from 62.6 in June.

However, in the euro area, inflation slowed to 0.4 percent in July from 0.5 percent in June even as the unemployment rate fell to 11.5 percent in June from 11.6 percent in May.

Germany in particular reported some positive data on Thursday. German unemployment fell by 12,000 in July while retail sales rose 1.3 percent in June.

However, in the UK, GfK NOP's consumer confidence index fell to -2 in July from 1 in June while Nationwide reported that house prices rose 0.1 percent in July, the smallest increase since April 2013.