World Shares slump on worries over US
Pastor Dale Morgan
World Shares slump on worries over US*
Investors remain worried about the state of the US economy
European stock markets have suffered sharp losses amid growing fears of
a recession in the US.
By 0845 GMT, London's FTSE-100 index was down more than 2%, in Paris the
Cac-40 fell more than 2.5% and in Frankfurt the Dax was down almost 3%.
It was a gloomy Monday in Tokyo too, as the Nikkei fell by 3.9% to its
lowest close since October 2005.
The markets have taken little comfort from measures to boost the US
economy proposed by President Bush on Friday.
The state of the US economy is very important to Asia's biggest
companies because American consumers are some of their top customers.
In Mumbai stocks were also hit, the Sensex index fell 987 points or
5.2%, adding to an 8% fall last week.
The Hang Seng slumped 1,383.0 points, or 5.5%, to close at 23,818.9,
Australia's benchmark ASX 200 index closed down 2.9% or 166.9 points at
5,580.4, which is its lowest level for a year.
It was also the 11th consecutive negative day for the index, which has
not happened for more than 25 years.
Markets in China, India, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and the
Philippines also fell.