Monday, 10 September, 2001, 20:25 GMT 21:25 UK US halts global shares slide US shares recovered from an earlier start-of-trade slump, helping to lift the morning's gloom generated from Asia and Europe.

But in what turned out to be a dramatic day's trading, the US' Dow Jones Industrial Average index swung wildly between gains and losses before ending the day flat.

But the volatile US stocks, with at least some upside, halted the slide of European stocks and helped reverse some of the deep losses seen earlier in the day.

In London, the FTSE 100 dropped through the 5,000 mark for the first time since October 1998, as Europe's stock markets follow big falls in Asia.

But the signs of a recovery in the US, helped the FTSE 100 to break back through the 5,000 mark shortly before the close, to end the day 37 points lower at 5,034.

And while both Germany's Dax index and France's Cac closed lower than the previous trading day, they had reversed the deeper losses of the morning.

'No confidence'

Europe's three main markets in London, Paris and Frankfurt are all at lows not seen for more than two years, or in the FTSE 100's case three years.

The Dax ended the day 61 points lower at 4,670 having clawed its way back from a loss of over 200 points.

And the Cac ended just 30 points lower at 4,384 despite having dropped over 100 points earlier in the day.

"Essentially there is no confidence about the economic outlook or outlook for corporate earnings," BNP Paribas's equity strategist David Thwaite told the BBC's World Business Report. "We have no real news this morning to spark the sell-off, it is really bad sentiment that has continued from last week."

Investors are preparing for a fresh batch of US economic news this week, including retail sales, producer prices and industrial output which are all due for release on Friday.

Japanese woes

Japan's markets kicked of the week by falling to a fresh 17-year low after Friday's jump in the US jobless rate to 4.9%, a four year high.

The Nikkei 225 shed almost 3.0% or 321.1 points to 10,196, a level last seen in July 1984. Other Asian markets followed Japan down.

Japan's Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said on Tuesday the world's second largest economy was facing painful structural reforms which could slow any recovery.

Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has said he would compile a supplementary budget, details of which are expected to emerge on Tuesday.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 2001