Overseas markets feel Wall Street fall
TEXT OF STORY
Bob Moon: When Wall Street slides, the world takes notice. And stock markets around the globe are shuddering after yesterday’s sharp decline here at home. Japan’s Nikkei index lost more than 2 percent today. Hong Kong’s main indicator shed more than 3 percent. And as Stephen Beard reports from the European Desk in London, shares there have also been hit.
Stephen Beard: Wall Street’s turmoil spread swiftly across the Atlantic yesterday afternoon. London, Frankfurt and Paris all recorded heavy falls of up to 2 percent.
The falls continued this morning. After yesterdays renewed concerns about Citigroup, there’s a growing worry about credit.
The fear is that the crunch which began in August could be entering a second, nastier phase. Because the world’s biggest banks could be nursing even heavier subprime-related losses, they may be preparing to turn off the tap.
David Buik of stockbroker BGC Partners:
David Buik: If banks become vigilant because they’re uncertain about their provisions for bad debt, they’re not gonna lend money so gleefully to new enterprise, which of course gives the world’s economy the growth it requires.
His firm is forecasting more stock-market turbulence in the weeks running up to Christmas.
In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
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