Heavy losses sweep world markets

[Mickey]

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6948916.stm

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Looks bleak for our pensions and mortgages

Heavy losses sweep world markets

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The world's markets are being watched closely



</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IINC --><!-- S SF -->The UK's main share index has closed down sharply as concern over the impact of turmoil in the US sub-prime lending market continues to haunt investors.
While US shares were falling still further in afternoon Wall Street trading, London's FTSE 100 ended the day down 4.1% or 250 points at 5,859.
This is the FTSE's biggest one-day percentage fall since March 2003.
The falls came despite the Federal Reserve pumping an extra $17bn (£8.6bn) into the US banking system. <!-- E SF -->
Central banks have been taking such action to try to restore confidence and avoid a credit squeeze.
Over the past week, the Fed has now injected $88bn (£44.3bn), while the European Central Bank has put up 211bn euros ($283.2bn; £142.6bn).
Unknown scale
However, investors appear to remain unconvinced that the action of the central banks will be enough, and more than £100bn has now been wiped off the value of the UK's leading shares alone since last Wednesday.
<!-- S IBOX --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=208 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5></TD><TD class=sibtbg> The problems in the sub-prime mortgage market will linger on for a while


Bart Ingels
Fortis Bank analyst



<!-- S ILIN -->Q&A: World stock market falls
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->What's causing credit crunch?
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->Peston's Picks: Where's the risk?
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In New York, the Dow Jones index of top US shares had shed 2.5% to 12,577.4 in early afternoon trade, while the Nasdaq had lost almost 3% to 1,809.5.
Back in Europe, Germany's Dax ended down 2.4% to 7,270 and France's Cac lost 3.3% to 5,265.
The recent financial market volatility has been triggered by the US sub-prime mortgage sector, which offers higher-risk loans to people with a poor credit history.
As US interest rates have risen and the housing bubble has burst, a growing number of sub-prime borrowers have defaulted on their loans.
This has led to extensive financial difficulties for a number of investment funds with heavy exposure to the sector - and triggered fears of a wider financial crisis.
While some estimates say $300bn in loans could be at risk, one of the biggest worries for investors is not knowing the eventual scale of the problem. "The problems in the sub-prime mortgage market will linger on for a while," said Bart Ingels, an analyst at Fortis Bank, in Brussels. "Some days it was a little bit better but then negative news came to the fore, and it will go on like that for a while."<!-- E BO -->
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[Tr1xerb3ll]

my estate agent says housing prices about to fall loads as new buyers struggle with loan rates

[Mickey]

my estate agent says housing prices about to fall loads as new buyers struggle with loan rates

yep things might get bad, perhaps you gonna have to take out that EXTRA job honey

[Tr1xerb3ll]

youmean you going to stop leaving me money on the bedside when youleave ??

[Mickey]

youmean you going to stop leaving me money on the bedside when youleave ??

You did sign than non disclosure wooman OHHH errr i dont know wot you mean

ill PM you later when wifeys in bed

[Mickey]

update:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6948916.stm
New York rally ends turbulent day

The world's markets are being watched closely

The world's markets were subject to another day of chaos on Thursday as fears over the deteriorating credit outlook took their toll.
But hours before the closing bell in New York, shares on Wall Street staged a dramatic recovery after suffering heavy losses earlier in the day.

The main Dow Jones index closed down 0.12%, or 15.7 points, at 12,845.8. At one point it had shed 340 points, 2.6%.

London's FTSE 100 fell 4.1% at 5,859, with losses in Europe and Asia too.

Concern over the impact of turmoil in the US sub-prime lending market continued to haunt investors, causing the FTSE's biggest one-day percentage fall since March 2003.

The falls came despite the Federal Reserve pumping an extra $17bn (£8.6bn) into the US banking system.

Central banks have been taking such action to try to restore confidence and avoid a credit squeeze.

Over the past week, the Fed has now injected $88bn (£44.3bn), while the European Central Bank has put up 211bn euros ($283.2bn; £142.6bn).

Unknown scale

However, investors appear to remain unconvinced that the action of the central banks will be enough, and more than £100bn has now been wiped off the value of the UK's leading shares alone since last Wednesday.

The problems in the sub-prime mortgage market will linger on for a while

Bart Ingels
Fortis Bank analyst


Q&A: World stock market falls
What's causing credit crunch?
Peston's Picks: Where's the risk?

In Europe, Germany's Dax ended down 2.4% to 7,270 and France's Cac lost 3.3% to 5,265.

The recent financial market volatility has been triggered by the US sub-prime mortgage sector, which offers higher-risk loans to people with a poor credit history.

As US interest rates have risen and the housing bubble has burst, a growing number of sub-prime borrowers have defaulted on their loans.

This has led to extensive financial difficulties for a number of investment funds with heavy exposure to the sector - and triggered fears of a wider financial crisis.

While some estimates say $300bn in loans could be at risk, one of the biggest worries for investors is not knowing the eventual scale of the problem.

"The problems in the sub-prime mortgage market will linger on for a while," said Bart Ingels, an analyst at Fortis Bank, in Brussels.

"Some days it was a little bit better but then negative news came to the fore, and it will go on like that for a while