GLOBAL SHARES TUMBLE ON US FEARS!

Global stock markets have tumbled, with European indexes set for some of their biggest losses in recent years, amid growing fears of a recession in the US.
London's FTSE 100 index fell 4.5% to 5,637.3. In Paris the Cac-40 fell 4.6%, and Frankfurt's Dax dropped 6.7%.

US markets are closed for a public holiday on Monday. Brazil's main index, the Ibovespa, opened 6% lower. Investors have taken little comfort from emergency measures proposed by President George W Bush on Friday. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index slid by 3.9% to its lowest close since October 2005, while India's Sensex shed 7.4%.

"It's another horrible day," said Francis Lun of Fulbright Securities in Hong Kong.
"Today it's because of disappointment that the US stimulus is too little, too late and investors feel it won't help the economy recover." US markets are closed for a public holiday on Monday and will re-open on Tuesday.

The worry is that tax breaks and spending measures will do little to boost consumer spending in the US because of problems in the housing market. Many shoppers are struggling under higher mortgage repayment costs, and default rates have surged.

At the same time, banks have had to become more careful about who they lend to because they have lost billions of pounds on investments linked to the US housing and mortgage markets.

The state of the US economy is very important to many of Europe's and Asia's biggest companies as it is one of their biggest export markets. Any slowdown in demand is likely to hurt corporate profit growth, and push share prices even lower, analysts warned. "It's becoming more and more difficult as the market is now in panic mode," said Hugues Rialan of Robeco France. "We're falling back into the crisis of confidence in the financial sector.

"The banks have been reassuring the market over their exposure to US mortgage-related investments, but now we realise there is nothing reassuring about it," he said.

FTSE100 - WORST DAYS
20/10/87 down 12.2%
19/10/87 down 10.8%
26/10/87 down 6.2%
11/09/01 down 5.7%
22/10/87 down 5.7%

But some analysts took comfort from the prospect of falling US interest rates. "If interest rates are cut to the extent we and others expect, the likelihood is that today's share prices will look like silly values in 12 months' time, if not before," said Mike Lenhoff at Brewin Dolphin Securities.

Global trend

Markets in China, India, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines all fell.

In Mumbai, the main Sensex index fell 1,408 points, or 7.4%, adding to an 8% fall last week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slumped 1,383.0 points, or 5.5%, to close at 23,818.9,

FTSE100 - BEST DAYS
21/10/87 up 7.9%
13/03/03 up 6.1%
10/04/92 up 5.6%
15/10/02 up 5.1%
25/07/02 up 5.0%

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, the longest losing streak in more than 25 years.

"People are certainly nervous about a potential recession in the US spilling over to the rest of the world," said David Cohen at Action Economics.

So far this year, Japan's Nikkei has dropped 13% percent, the Hang Seng is down more than 14%, and China's main Shanghai index has slipped almost 7%.
BBC NEWS REPORT.