THE GUARDIAN: Fears that the US economy is lurching towards a double-dip recession sent world stock markets falling sharply on Thursday morning.
The sell-off that began in London and New York on Wednesday gathered pace, as traders reacted to warnings that the world's biggest economy is running out of steam.
The latest downgrade of Greece's credit rating also dampened spirits, with a Greek default now seen as a 50:50 chance.
The FTSE 100 index of blue chip shares shed 65 points, or over 1%, at the start of trading to 5863, with other major European indices also bathed in red. This followed losses across Asia, as investors across the globe reacted to the worst day's trading in New York in almost a year.
In Japan, the Nikkei tumbled 1.7% to 9,555.04 with exporters leading the losers. Confidence was also knocked in Tokyo by the "no confidence" vote in the embattled Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan over his handling of the earthquake and nuclear crisis at the Fukushima plant. Kan survived the ballot, but has offered to quit once Japan's economy is in better shape.
"I think right now there's almost a market consensus of the slowing down of economic growth around the world," said Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong told Associated Press. » | Fiona Walsh, business editor | Thursday, June 02, 2011
