European shares fell today as persistent earnings concerns hurt financial stocks and mobile phone maker Nokia's trading update disappointed investors.
Meanwhile, Wall Street appeared to be having doubts about whether the Federal Reserve would cut rates next week, sending shares lower. The Dow Jones was 46 points lower at 13,269 while the Nasdaq was off 13 at 2,624.
In London, the FTSE closed down 71 at 6,315, with Northern Rock losing 5.5% at 103p and British Airways tumbling 6% to 326.5p. Paris ended down 1.5% and Frankfurt fell 0.3%.
Dublin's ISEQ lost 163 points to 6,882, with banks again hit hardest. Anglo Irish Bank was down 7% at €10.60 just before the close, while AIB dropped 54 cent to €14.69. Building stocks were also weak, with Kingspan down 59 at €13.74.
Earlier this morning, Tokyo's key Nikkei 225 index dropped almost 1% to close at 15,480 on the back of concerns over the US economy.
