Shares Struggle After Wall Street Wobble, Bonds Roar On

A man works at the Tokyo Stock Exchange after market opens in Tokyo, Japan, on Oct. 2, 2020. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

LONDON—Share markets had an end of year wobble on Thursday, while bonds completed a remarkable round trip for the year on the consensus view that large parts of the world will be chopping interest rates in 2024.

Wall Street had suffered its biggest drop since September on Wednesday. There was no obvious catalyst but with holidays fast approaching and a final dump of U.S. data due later neither Asia no Europe offered much resistance.