Stock markets end turbulent week with more losses

Major European share markets closed down on Friday completing another turbulent week. Continued fears about a slowdown in the global economy and high levels of debt in the eurozone had driven indexes lower for much of the day, EMG.rs reports.

At one point, European markets were sharply lower, with falls of more than 3% for some leading indexes. By the close, London's FTSE 100 was down 1%, Paris's Cac was down 1.9% and Frankfurt's Dax was down 2.2%, BBC reported. The losses leave the 100 index down 13% on the month, with the French and German markets worse hit, losing 18.3% and 24% respectively. In New York, falls were more muted with the Dow Jones down 0.2%.

Alan Brown, Schroders' group chief investment officer, said: "It is the end of a really torrid week." Investors are worried global growth is slowing, and that major economies may be heading back into recession. In additiona, the Greek finance minister said his country's new bailout deal was not in doubt.

Evangelos Venizelos' comments came after five countries demanded collateral in exchange for their contributions to the 109bn-euro loan. Earlier this week, Finland agreed a deal with the Greek government to receive cash as security for their part of the bailout. Austria, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Slovakia have all said they want to do the same, which could complicate efforts to finalise the rescue deal. But Venizelos told Greek radio the bailout "is not in doubt, because it is of vital importance to the eurozone".

On Thursday, Morgan Stanley said that the US and Europe were "dangerously close to recession". The falls follow steep losses in the US and Europe on Thursday, and mark a week of declines in global stock markets.