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Stocks fall over economic fears
19 August 2011 Last updated at 03:50 ET
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Market Data
Last Updated at 04:37 ET
| Market index | Current value | Trend | Variation | % variation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones | 10990.58 | Down | -419.63 | -3.68% |
| Nasdaq | 2380.43 | Down | -131.05 | -5.22% |
| S&P 500 | 1140.65 | Down | -53.24 | -4.46% |
| FTSE 100 | 4993.33 | Down | -98.90 | -1.94% |
| Dax | 5430.57 | Down | -172.23 | -3.07% |
| BBC Global 30 | 5011.79 | Down | -62.69 | -1.24% |
Stocks in Europe have started the day with more losses, after Asian stocks had fallen overnight on continued fears about a global economic slowdown.
Not long after open London’s FTSE was down 3.1%, Germany’s Dax down 3.2%, and France’s Cac by 1.9%.
Investors are worried global growth is slowing, and that major economies may be heading back into recession.
On Thursday, Morgan Stanley said that the US and Europe were “dangerously close to recession”.
The falls follow steep losses in the US and Europe on Thursday, and mark a week of stock market declines.
In early morning trade the FTSE was down 153 points, or 3.1%, at 4939.2 points.
Concerns over growth and debt have been building over recent weeks and financial markets have been seeing extreme volatility.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped 6.2%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Australia’s ASX indexes shed 2.5%.
Many analysts are questioning if a bear market – one in which the long-term trend is negative – has now developed and is here to stay.
“Bear markets tend to happen when sentiments are low and that comes from weakened demand and bad news flow,” Chou Chong of Aberdeen Asset Management told the BBC.
“The Western regions are having to face a period of lower growth and dampened demand. That is putting pressure on market sentiment,” he added.
On Friday, oil prices continued to drop as investors bet that slower global growth would dent demand for crude.
Amid the worries about the state of the global economy, so-called safe haven investments continued to rise, with the spot price of gold hitting a new record high of $1,833.81 an ounce.
The Swiss franc rose against the euro, despite recent attempts by the Swiss authorities to weaken it earlier this month.
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