Stocks in the United States fell for a sixth consecutive session on Wednesday, as worldwide cuts in interest rates failed to alleviate fears about a global recession.
Earlier, the US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England, Switzerland, Canada and Sweden all lowered their official rates by a half-percentage point in an attempt to stem the worst global financial crisis since the 1930s.
In the last hour of trading, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson warned that the turmoil "will not end quickly."
The Dow Jones industrial average has lost 14.7% in the last six days - 1,594.55 points. The Nasdaq has lost 16.81% in the last six days - 351.55 points.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 189.01 points, or 2%, on Wednesday to 9,258.10.
Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 11.29 points, or 1.13%, to 984.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 14.55 points, or 0.83%, at 1,740.33.
Trading was active on the New York Stock Exchange, with about 2.13 billion shares changing hands - above last year's estimated daily average of roughly 1.90 billion, while on Nasdaq, a
About 3.53 billion shares were traded on the Nasdaq - also above last year's daily average of 2.17 billion.
European stocks down
European shares also sank further on Wednesday in highly volatile trade.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares, closed unofficially down 6.1% at 941.93 points - its lowest close since 17 December, 2003.
The European index was down nearly 8% in early trade, then recouped most of its losses following the rate cuts, only to fall again late in the day. Banking stocks were hit the most.
In Paris, the CAC 40 fell 6.39% to 3,493.70 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX lost 5.88% to 5,013.62 points.
The Swiss Market Index was down 5.51%, Madrid was down 5.2% and Milan was down by 5.71%.
In Britain, the FTSE 100 index shed 5.18% in turbulent trade to finish at 4,366.69 points.
Asia-Pacific markets
Markets in Asia and the Pacific plunged again on Wednesday, amid continuing fallout from the global credit crisis.
The slump followed a huge selloff on Wall Street which saw the Dow Jones index close down 508 points, 5.1%, on Tuesday.
The New Zealand sharemarket closed down 56 points at 2948 on a turnover of $107 million on Wednesday.
The NZX50 index was down 1.9%, bringing the drop to 9.3% in the past four trading days.
Telecom was down 11 cents to $2.67, while Contact Energy fell 5c to $7.40 and Fletcher Building slid 6c to $6.36.
At 5.20pm on Wednesday, the New Zealand dollar stood at 62.57 US, 87.85 Australian, 35.65 pence, 63.26 yen and 0.4586 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was 61.25.
Other markets
The Australian share market closed 5% lower as the financial crisis wiped $A56 billion from the value of listed stocks.
At 1615 AEDT, the S&P/ASX200 index was 230.6 points, or 4.99%, lower at 4388.1, while the broader All Ordinaries lost 228.1 points, or 4.96%, to 4369.8.
Japanese share prices plummeted 9.38%, as panic-selling erupted across Asia.
The US dollar dropped below 100 yen for the first time in six months as investors flocked to the Japanese currency as a safe haven.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index dived 952.58 points to end at 9,203.32. At one point the index was down 9.81%.
It was the worst day for Asia's largest index since a 14.9% plunge on 20 October 1987 in the wake of the "Black Monday" crash in the United States.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was 5.5% lower, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 3%.
