Global shares continue to slide

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European markets have opened sharply lower following hefty falls in Asia that saw Japan's Nikkei index falling 6.36% to its lowest close since 1982.

The FTSE 100 in London was trading down 4.8%, the Cac 40 in Paris fell 5.5% and the Dax in Frankfurt was down 3.5%.

It follows hefty falls on Friday with investors continuing to fret about the depth of the global slowdown.

The Japanese yen stayed near its 13-year high against the US dollar, despite threats of G7 intervention.

In the Philippines, the main index fell 12.3%, as the country's second biggest bank announced hefty losses.

There is more pain left. The global turmoil does not appear to be resolving soon

Atul Mehra, J M Financial

Shares of Banco de Oro Unibank lost almost a quarter of their value after it reported a loss of 1.3bn pesos ($26.8m; £16.8m) because of its exposure to the US investment bank Lehman Brothers.

One of the few exchanges rising was the Seoul market, which reversed early losses to close up 0.8% after South Korea's central bank cut its key interest rate from 5% to 4.25% at a rare, unscheduled meeting.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was down 12.2% in afternoon trading.

India's Sensex index dropped 6.1% to its lowest level since November 2005.

"There is more pain left. The global turmoil does not appear to be resolving soon," said Atul Mehra at the brokerage J M Financial in Mumbai.

Chinese shares were also lower, with the Shanghai Composite Index closing down 6.3% at its

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MARKET DATA - 08:28 UK

FTSE 100 3679.12down -204.24 -5.26%
Dax 4088.80down -206.87 -4.82%
Cac 40 3012.90down -180.89 -5.66%
Dow Jones 8378.95down -312.30 -3.59%
Nasdaq 1552.03down -51.88 -3.23%
BBC Global 30 4718.54down -17.27 -0.36%