Global markets suffer fresh falls
*
Global markets are in the red again, following the lead set by Wall Street.

The Dow Jones opened sharply lower and at 1400 local time (1900 BST) it
was down 150.5 points or 1.1% at 13,171.7.

Many of the biggest fallers were in the financial sector after Merrill
Lynch told clients not to buy shares in Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers
and Citigroup.

The downgrades came the day after Goldman Sachs cut its forecasts for
the earnings of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley.

Shares in US bank State Street fell on newspaper reports that the money
manager is exposed to the sorts of debt that have been causing problems
in recent weeks.

The Times said that State Street has the highest exposure to a
particular type of package of retail and commercial loan of any bank.

Wall Street's weak opening had an impact on European shares, which were
still trading.

The FTSE 100 fell 1.9% or 117.9 points to close at 6,102.2, ending a six
day winning streak.

In Paris, the Cac 40 fell 2.1% or 116.4 points to close at 5,474.2.