Stocks, Stocks Down | featured news

Stock markets in Asia opened sharply lower Friday amid signs of a possible U.S. recession and renewed worries over the financial health of Europe's banks.

World stocks fell on Thursday as heightened worries about sluggish economic recovery prompted investors to cut exposure to riskier assets, while the Swiss franc fell as the central bank took further steps to halt its steady rise.

Stocks resumed their downward slide in early trading Wednesday as investors retreated from the initial optimism that greeted the Federal Reserve's decision the day before to keep interest rates low.

The sell-off comes in reaction to the downgrade on U.S. debt by Standard & Poor's. Accelerating fears of a new global recession sent the Dow Jones industrial average plunging more than 600 points as Washington policymakers scrambled to contain the damage fueled by reaction to the U.S. credit rating downgrade.

More than $2.5 trillion have been wiped off the value of world stocks this week on mounting concerns the global economy is heading toward another recession.

Stocks' downward spiral picked up speed near the end of trading Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 250 points and closed below 12K for the first time since June.

Signs that American consumers were pulling back on their spending added to growing concerns about the direction of the economy.

An unexpected jump in claims for unemployment benefits and plummeting oil prices are driving stocks lower in early trading Thursday.

Worry about lack of substantive progress towards a blueprint for tackling the euro zone debt crisis kept investors on edge, traders said. In the United States, consumer inflation rose more than expected in May.

New doubts about the economic recovery's strength knocked the Dow Jones industrial average down almost 200 points Wednesday... The ISM's manufacturing index fell to 53.5 in May from 60.4 in April... And private employers added just 38,000 jobs in May, down from 177,000 in April, according to payroll processor ADP.