Stock markets plunged throughout the world as banks were rescued or nationalised in both the US and Europe and central banks led by the Fed dramatically expanded liquidity operations amid intensifying stress in the credit markets as investors fled to the safety of government securities and sent the yield on the two-year US Treasury bill down 38bp. The MSCI World index registered the biggest one-day drop since its inception in 1970 and crude oil prices extended their biggest drop in 7 years. Asian stocks plunged on Tuesday, while the dollar strengthened against the pound and euro on signs of deepening European turmoil and the yen strengthened against the dollar. The figures:
US markets (Mon)
DJIA down 777.68 (6.98%) at 10,365.45
Nasdaq down 199.61 (9.14%) at 1,983.73
S&P500 down 109.59 (8.79%) at 1,106.39
Asian markets (Tues)
05:20am BST
Nikkei down 390.87 (3.33%) at 11,352.74
Topix down 34.24 (3.04%) at 1,093.63
Hang Seng down 369.99 (2.07%) at 17,510.69
European markets (Mon)
FTSE100 down 269.70 (5.3%) at 4,818.77
Eurofirst 300 down 57.75 (5.23%) at 1,047.04
Currencies
05.21am BST
€/$ 1.4365 (1.4502)
$/Y 104.30 (106.38)
£/$ 1.8020 (1.8283)
Commodities (updated)
Brent Crude (Nov08) down $1.01 at $92.97
Light Crude (Nov08) down $0.90 at $95.47
3M Copper 24HR down $10.00 at $6,390.00
100 Oz Gold (Dec8) down $13.10 at $907.50
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 3.61 (3.85)
UK 4.38 (4.55)
Germany 3.98 (4.15)
Japan 1.48 (1.49)
Sources: FT, Reuters