World stocks fall sharply again

By Pan Pylas | The Associated Press LONDON - European stock markets slumped further today following massive losses on Wall Street and Asia on mounting fears that this week's efforts by central banks and governments to break the logjam in credit markets have failed to ease lending rates between banks. At midday London time, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 328.03, or 7.6 percent, at 3,985.77, below the 4,000 mark earlier for the first time in five years. Germany's DAX was 399.92, or 8.2 percent, at 4,487.08, and France's CAC-40 was 254.03, or 7.4 percent lower at 3,188.67. Trading has been suspended for various times in Austria, Russia, Iceland, Romania and Ukraine while Milan suspended share dealings in nearly half of its stocks because of excessive losses. Despite the coordinated interest rate reductions... [read full story]