00:02:59
ITN
FTSE and Dow Jones plummet
FTSE and Dow Jones plummet
Shares have continued to plummet worldwide as panic spreads over fears of a global recession. By 4.20pm, the FTSE 100 index was 331.5 points lower at 3962.3 after the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed almost 700 points within the first ten minutes of trading on Wall Street. It is currently 317.7 points off at 8261.5. European bourses trimmed earlier losses and in Germany, the Dax finished 432.0 down at 4454.9 while France's Cac 40 was 324.9 lower at 3117.7. The latest slump came despite co-ordinated interest rate cuts and this week's efforts by the UK Government to bolster British banks. Henk Potts, director of investment strategy at Barclays Stockbrokers, said: "I think it's very close to panic. We are drowning in a sea of red numbers and fundamentals have gone out the window." He added: "Investors are concerned about the exacerbation of the credit crunch and the gloomy forecasts for economic growth. "The reality is that most investors have been spooked by the sheer pressure that the credit crunch is putting on the global economy." Matt Buckland, a trader at CMC Markets, said markets were reeling because of recession fears and the fact that the fire-fighting efforts of central banks worldwide had not resulted in any thawing of interbank lending. He said: "US and European taxpayers have collectively tried to dig the financial sector out of one almighty hole but the response certainly hasn't been as planned."
ITN | October 10, 2008
