Stock markets were mixed this evening after Wall Street recovered from a jittery opening.
The US indexes stabilised after reports on the economy were mostly in line with Wall Street's expectations, but investors worried over the latest signs of worsening credit conditions.
The Dow Jones has lost nearly 1,000 points in just four weeks, briefly dipping below 13,000 near the market's opening. The Dow fell 0.1% to 13,016 this evening, while the Nasdaq climbed a marginal 0.04% to 2,500.
Europe's main stock markets were mixed as investors were gripped by concerns over a potential global credit crunch sparked by the troubled US home loan sector.
Bank shares bore the brunt, amid worries that more big banks and investment funds could be exposed to the US problems. Paris was down 0.7%, while Frankfurt was 0.3% higher. In London, the FTSE lost 0.56% to 6,109, with Northern Rock down 5.3% and Standard Life off 2.1%.
In Dublin, the ISEQ dropped 84 points (1%) to 8,327, with packaging group Smurfit Kappa down 62 cent to €15.88 after its second quarter results came in slightly below some broker expectations. In the financial sector, Anglo Irish fell 22 to €13.78.
This morning, Asian markets had suffered steep losses after an overnight slump on Wall Street. Tokyo's Nikkei index had closed down more than 2% to 16,476 after two days of relative calm.
In the latest sign of a weakening credit environment, Sentinel Management Group, which oversees about $1.6 billion in assets, told clients it wants to stop investors from withdrawing their cash to avoid forced liquidation.
