World shares skid after S&P 500 logs 1st monthly drop of 2021

World markets tumbled Friday on the tail of Wall Street's worst monthly loss since the beginning of the pandemic.

Shares dropped in Paris, London, Frankfurt and Tokyo. Shanghai and Hong Kong were closed for a holiday.

The S&P 500 ended September down 4.8%, its first monthly drop since January and the biggest since March 2020.

After climbing steadily for much of the year, markets have become unsettled with the spread of the more contagious delta variant of COVID-19, surging long-term bond yields and word that the Federal Reserve may start to unwind its support for the economy.

Rising inflation also has caused investors to reconsider recent high prices for shares, leading many to sell tech stocks that have soared during the pandemic.