Losses seen in London and Europe yesterday continued into New York last night and Asia this morning, as fears of a global recession ground away any optimism on the markets.
The FTSE 100 closed down 7.14 per cent yesterday, drawn down by the fall on Wall Street in the last hours before closing.
By the close of play in New York, the Dow Jones had dropped 7.87 per cent and the Nasdaq was down 8.47 per cent.
The only firm to see gains on the Dow was Coca Cola up 1.10 per cent. While oil stocks and finance were particularly hit.
Double digit falls were seen for Exxon Mobil, American Express, AIG and Citigroup.
In Asia overnight, the panic spread with the Nikkei falling 11.41 per cent its biggest drop in two decades.
In Hong Kong the Hang Seng fell 6.40 per cent.
As Europe woke up to the bad news although in the words of Gordon Gecko "Money Never Sleeps" more falls were seen.
In London, the FTSE 100 dropped below 3850 points although it managed to bounce back.
On opening the index fell 5.86 per cent, but by 11:50 it had made up ground and was down just 2.92 per cent.
Today, foreign secretary David Miliband stated the government never claimed the bank bailout package was enough stop financial instability, and more action was needed internationally.
There are hopes the actions taken by government around the world will eventually filter into he markets to add stability, but fears of economic slowdown may now have replaced the financial crisis as the next calamity.