Corporate executives are increasingly nervous about the global economic outlook as they see threats multiplying from China to trade to Brexit.
While few see recession looming, louder warnings from semiconductors to logistics signal that waning confidence among businesses and consumers is sapping activity. The more downbeat mood was underscored recently by U.S. power-tool maker Stanley Black & Decker Inc., whose shares plunged after saying profit will miss estimates and warning about a global slowdown.
Concerns are rising as investors, bankers and former policymakers at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said the expansion is weakening. Under a deluge of disappointing numbers, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said risks to the eurozone outlook have moved to the downside, a key acknowledgment of the changed backdrop.