- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
Stocks tank as central banks hike rates
Stock markets tumbled Thursday as central banks hiked interest rates in efforts to tame runaway inflation which has raised fears of recession.
One day after the Federal Reserve's biggest US interest-rate hike in nearly 30 years, the Bank of England raised its main rate to its highest level since the 2009 financial crisis.
The BoE hiked its rate by a quarter-point to 1.25 percent, its fifth straight increase, and warned that British inflation would soar further this year to exceed 11 percent.
The pound sank against the dollar following the announcement, but later recovered.
Adding to the sense of urgency, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) surprised the markets as it unexpectedly hiked rates for the first time since 2007.
"European bourses are tanking on recession fears as central banks act aggressively to tame inflation," City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta told AFP.
"While the move by the Fed was priced in, the SNB's hike was a shock that caught investors off guard. Harder and faster rate hikes from central banks mean that a recession will be hard to avoid."
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said the SNB's move "reportedly got the market all worked up, but let's be clear, this particular move isn't the problem. The problem is that it is another example of a hawkish-minded monetary policy shift to fight inflation that isn't the exclusive domain of the Federal Reserve."
Frankfurt's DAX index and London's FTSE 100 were both down more than three percent in afternoon trades, while the Paris CAC 40 shed 2.6 percent.
Wall Street opened sharply lower, with the Dow, the broad-based S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq all falling by more than two percent, a day after closing higher following the Fed's rate hike.
Asian markets mostly closed lower.
Markets have been pummelled this year as soaring consumer prices -- particularly on fallout from the Ukraine conflict -- have forced central banks to tamp up borrowing costs.
That has intensified fear that the world economy, which is still in recovery from the deadly Covid pandemic, could lurch back into a lengthy downturn.
Traders initially tracked Wednesday's strong performance on Wall Street as the US central bank move signalled it is intent on fighting runaway prices, but Fed boss Jerome Powell said such big moves would not be commonplace.
The size of the US rate hike had been expected after data showed inflation in the world's biggest economy at its highest since 1981.
Oil prices extended losses Thursday on demand worries caused by new Covid containment measures in China and news of surging US production.
- Key figures at around 1345 GMT -
New York - Dow: DOWN 2.4 percent at 29,925.81 points
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 3.2 percent at 7,044.60
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 3.2 percent at 13,058.47
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 2.6 percent at 5,873.71
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 2.9 percent at 3,431.70
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 26,431.20 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.2 percent at 20,845.53 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.6 percent at 3,285.38 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0461 from $1.0444 late Wednesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2259 from $1.2180
Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.32 pence from 85.75 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 132.70 yen from 133.84 yen
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 1.7 percent at $116.48 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.9 percent at $113.12
burs-lth/pvh
X.M.Francisco--PC