Tech & Biz

Global Shares Slide Along with Eastern Markets

by Jordan Yerman | October 16, 2008 at 05:49 am

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Update: Wall Street is following suit, with trades resulting in an overall drop so far.

Stocks wavered at the start of trading, seeking a direction after the previous session?s steep dive, then turned sharply lower after a disappointing report on manufacturing. Wednesday's drop, which took the Dow down 733 points, followed a stream of bad economic news that underscored the likelihood that the country is either in a recession or will be in one - and that the downturn will be severe.

It was clear from Thursday's trading that the market will continue having extreme reactions to any economic news.

Following on the heels of the Asian markets, European markets are falling today despite positive developments earlier this week. Emotion, which drives trading, is turning toward gloom.

Markets in Europe fell sharply in morning trade, but then recovered some ground on signs that US shares were set to recoup some of Wednesday's losses.

On Wednesday, New York's Dow Jones saw its worst one-day percentage fall since October 1987, closing almost 8% down.

"Sentiment is deteriorating very fast," said Jacky Choi, a fund manager at Value Partners.

"People are losing what little confidence they have on a day-by-day basis."

Each market that closes so far down will in turn affect the markets still trading: a vicious circle.

By 1121 GMT, the FTSE 100 .FTSE was down 123.3 points at 3,956.3 points, above an earlier low of 3,840.6, after losing 7.2 percent on Wednesday. The index has erased most of the 12 percent rebound seen in the previous two sessions after plummeting 21 percent last week.

Of course, with share prices down, it's an ideal time to invest, provided you know what you're doing... as they say on TV, do not try this at home.

"At the moment, it's a case of not expecting too much too soon, but may be looking to accumulate investments over a period of time," said Keith Bowman, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"In theory, now should be a much better time to buy than it was just 18 months ago, but you need not necessarily have to commit all your money in one go ... Recessionary concerns are being built into stocks."