TheRumpledOne
6,407 posts
msg #68818
- Ignore TheRumpledOne |
10/27/2008 9:12:49 AM
World stocks tumble, dollar and yen soar
By Jeremy Gaunt, European Investment Correspondent
LONDON (Reuters) - Global stock markets plunged on Friday and currency markets were hit by a flight from risk as economic decline and corporate damage gripped investors.
Wall Street stock index futures, pointing to large U.S. losses later, were frozen on and off as they fell as much as rules allow in one day.
European shares lost 8 percent and Japan's Nikkei tumbled 9.6 percent.
The dollar and yen -- considered among the safer currencies -- surged to multi-year highs as investors repatriated investors and looked for shelter.
MSCI's all-country world index was down 4 percent at five-year lows and its emerging market benchmark down more than 6 percent.
The emerging market stock index has now lost more than 15 percent this week and has wiped out all its massive gains from the last four years.
"The whole market is taking a kicking," said one Paris trader, who asked not to be named.
The financial crisis has now spread far beyond the banking sector, with electronics maker Sony Corp and U.S. online retailer Amazon.com Inc cutting their forecasts in the face of weakening consumer demand.
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