欧洲股市持续走低

European markets have continued the global shares sell off, with investors worried about both the eurozone debt crisis and the strength of the US economic recovery.

投资者对欧盟债务危机和美国经济复苏势头的顾虑导致欧洲股市继续下滑。

The UK's FTSE 100 index was down 3.2%, Germany's Dax was 3.5% lower and France's Cac 40 index fell 2.8%.

Earlier on Friday, Asian markets had slumped with Japan's main index down 3.7% and Hong Kong's 4.6% lower.

This followed heavy falls in US shares on Wall Street on Thursday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to hold a telephone conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy later to discuss the latest situation in the eurozone.

On Thursday, investor confidence was hit after European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned that the eurozone's sovereign debt crisis was spreading, sparking fears that Italy and Spain might become engulfed in the problems.

Market 'fear'

Investors will now be focusing on US jobs data due out later on Friday as an indicator of the strength of the economy.

"Fear is the major theme," David Cohen of Action Economics told the BBC.

"People were cautiously optimistic that we would get back on track in the second half of the year. But with the US recovery stalling and the possible repercussions（反响，影响） for the global economy, stock markets have been under pressure for a while."

In London, banking shares saw heavy falls, with Royal Bank of Scotland down 14%, and both Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays nearly 10% lower.

Oil prices continued to fall, as fears of a global economic slowdown hit prices of commodities.

The price of US oil fell by $3.76 to $82.87 a barrel, the lowest price since November last year, before recovering slightly to $83.81. Brent crude fell $2.95 to $104.30 a barrel.

The prices of both US and Brent crude have fallen by more than 10% this week.

On Thursday in the US, the Dow Jones index had its worst day since December 2008, closing down 512.76 points, or 4.3%, at 11,383.68.

Wall Street's other leading indexes also slid, with the S&P 500 index falling 4.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq more than 5% lower.