Italian stocks plunge over 6 percent
MILAN: Italian stocks plunged over 6.0 percent on Thursday after auto giant Fiat announced revenue shortfalls and US investment bank Morgan Stanley warned of a new recession in the United States and Europe.
Poor US data added to the negative tone as markets sold off around the world, with the past few days respite completely overtaken.
The benchmark FTSE Mib index in Milan was down 6.49 percent in afternoon trading at 14,916 points -- below the closely watched 15,000-point threshold.
Fiat suffered the worst falls, along with truck maker Fiat Industrial and Exor -- the holding company owned by Fiat's founding family, the Agnellis.
US data showing that new claims for US unemployment insurance rose last week helped spook investors. The figures showed new claims rose to 408,000 -- a gain of 9,000 from the previous week.
European Union president Herman Van Rompuy's assurances that there was "no new recession" in sight in Europe failed to calm nerves.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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