Economy, 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.

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.

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

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.

Stocks tumbled Thursday, hit first by new worries about global growth and then by reports that Saudi police had fired on protesters.

Dow plummets nearly 220 points after trade deficit unexpectedly widens and reports from Asia, Europe spurs concerns recovery is veering off track.

The Dow industrials fell below 10,000 again after an index of China’s economy was revised downward.

Stocks tumbled Friday after the Labor Department said hiring remains weak and Hungary became the latest European country to report its economy is in crisis.

Fitch cut Spain’s credit rating, saying that the country’s debt will probably weigh on the country’s growth.