AP - Dejected investors sent stocks plunging Thursday, hurtling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 340 points after retailers and the government added to a mountain of bad economic news and devastated hopes for a late-year recovery.

AP - Asian stock markets plunged Friday after more bad news on the U.S. economy, a vital export market, triggered a broad sell-off on Wall Street overnight.

AFP - Share prices fell sharply in Frankfurt and Paris on Thursday ahead of European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet's press conference due after the central bank's latest call on interest rates.

AFP - The European Central Bank kept its key lending rate unchanged on Thursday and slashed its growth forecasts for this year and next, sending stock markets and the euro into tailspins.

Reuters - Stocks plummeted on Thursday, with the Nasdaq slumping more than 3 percent, as investors grew anxious over more signs of weakness in the U.S. labor market and sluggish growth overseas.

AP - Wall Street dove sharply lower Thursday, sending the Dow Jones industrials down over 300 points as retailers and the Labor Department added to the mountain of dismal economic news that has all but dashed investors' hopes for a late-year recovery.

Reuters - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell on Wednesday as signs of increasingly sluggish growth in the United States and the rest of the world rattled investors already unsettled about the outlook for consumer spending and corporate profits.

Reuters - Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda investment firm settled a regulator's allegations that it was misleading about its plan to cut its stake in General Motors Corp , the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday.

AP - A former Wall Street broker pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges he and a colleague duped investors into purchasing more than $1 billion in high-risk securities by making it look as though the trades were protected by the federal government.

AP - Wall Street finished mixed in fickle trading Wednesday, with investors unsettled about the economy ahead of Friday's employment report and only somewhat relieved about sliding commodities prices.

AFP - German fertiliser group K+S will join the DAX 30 index of blue-chip stocks, reflecting its growing business as prices for commodities and foods rise globally.

AFP - Hong Kong is considering banning fishing trawlers in its waters to save fish stocks, a report said Thursday. The drastic proposal comes as annual catches were estimated to be 30 percent above sustainable levels, the South China Morning Post said, citing a consultation paper from the Food and Health bureau.

AFP - Europe's leading stock exchanges fell on Wednesday after Wall Street had closed lower overnight, dragged down by concern over falling oil prices.

Reuters - The Toronto Stock Exchange sold off sharply for a second day in a row on Wednesday, giving up more than 2 percent by late morning in a broad decline led by resource shares, which followed commodities lower.

AFP - London shares closed sharply lower on Wednesday amid ongoing concerns over the state of the UK economy.