The Dow Jones share index in New York fell to its lowest level in five years, amid fears of a protracted global recession.

In Asia overnight Japan's Nikkei index ended 6.8% down and Hong Kong's main index fell 5.5%.

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UK and other European shares have risen sharply in early trading this morning.
This follows rallies on Wall Street yesterday where the Dow Jones closed up 10.88%, or 889.35 points, at 9,065, its second biggest one-day points rise.

This US rally helped Japan's Nikkei index end Wednesday up 7.7%, with Japanese sentiment further lifted by hopes of a rate cut in Tokyo.

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European markets have all opened sharply lower following large falls overnight on the Asian markets.

The Japanese Nikkei index falling 6.4% to its lowest close since 1982.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng closed down 12.7% in its biggest single-day fall since 1991.

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The United Kingdom Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased by 0.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2008, compared with a 0.0 per cent movement in the previous quarter. Weaker service industries, construction and production output drove the deceleration in growth.

Construction output decreased by 0.8 per cent, compared with a decrease of 0.5 per cent in the previous quarter. ... more

A volatile week on stock markets ended with the Dow Jones down in New York on worse than expected new home build data.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed 127 points or 1.4% down at 8,852,22 after a volatile session. But for the week the index ended 4.8% higher.

European indexes fluctuated wildly all week but closed near highs for the day.

The FTSE 100 closed up 5.2%, while France's Cac 40 ended up 4.7% and Germany's Dax index was up 3.4%.

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