(MENAFN- AFP) European stocks markets fell on Wednesday, extending the previous day's sharp losses caused by weak economic growth forecasts and the spreading Ebola crisis.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index slid 0.12 percent to stand at 6,487.88 points in afternoon trading.
Frankfurt's DAX index lost 0.56 percent to 9,034.96 points and the CAC 40 index in Paris shed 0.78 percent to 4,177.36.
"Equity markets remain on the back foot ... after a torrid session in the US (Tuesday) when growth fears saw indices tumble rapidly," said Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG trading group.
"A warning from the IMF about the global economy provides a handy excuse for a selloff", he added
Coming before the start of the earnings season, it played on investors concerns "...that the world economy is headed for another slump," he added.
Asian stock markets mostly ended lower on Wednesday following a US and European sell-off that came in response to more weak German data and the IMF's decision to cut its growth forecast for the global economy to 3.3 percent from 3.4 percent and warned of stagnation in advanced economies.
Tokyo fell 1.19 percent, Seoul lost 0.39 percent, Sydney eased 0.81 percent and Hong Kong broke a three-day winning streak to end 0.68 percent lower.
However, Shanghai, which has been closed since last Wednesday for the Golden Week holiday, ended 0.80 percent higher, adding 18.92 points to 2,382.79.
- Attention shifts to Fed -
US stocks opened slightly lower Wednesday as attention shifted to the upcoming release of minutes from the latest Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting and the unofficial kickoff of earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.03 percent to 16,713.72 points after five minutes of trading.
The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.04 percent to 1,934.42, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.05 percent to 4,382.93.
The early losses extended Tuesday's rout that Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said was partially "triggered by angst" that minutes from the Fed's September meeting "will be more hawkish-sounding."
The minutes were scheduled to be released at 1800 GMT.
Alcoa unofficially kicks off third-quarter earnings season later when it reports financial results after the markets close, with some analysts having expressed concern that third-quarter earnings will be marred by weak overseas performance of multinationals following the dollar's advance.
The European single currency slipped to $1.2664 from $1.2667 late in New York on Tuesday. It has lost nearly a tenth of its value against the dollar in the past five months.
The euro rose to 78.77 British pence from 78.70 pence on Tuesday, while the pound dropped to $1.6078 from $1.6094.
The price of gold climbed to $1,220 an ounce on the London Bullion Market, from $1,210.50 on Tuesday.
- Ebola fears hit stocks -
Meanwhile in Spain, the IBEX 35 stock index shed another 0.24 percent after tumbling 2.0 percent on Tuesday when the country's government had confirmed that a 40-year-old nurse contracted the Ebola virus while treating patients in a Madrid hospital.
Airline shares continued to take a beating on fears that a spread of the deadly disease which causes internal bleeding would hit travel, with shares in IAG which owns British Airways and Iberia down 1.5 to 340.5 pence.
Shares in Air France-KLM, which also revealed that the recent pilot strike cost it 500 million euros, slumped 2.6 percent to 6.51 euros.
Other companies also took a hit.
In London, shares in British company London Mining plunged 77.42 percent to less than one pence. The company, which is focused on mining activities in Ebola-hit Sierra Leone, had warned that its shares could lose all of their value.
In Paris, shares in conglomerate Bollore, with big transportation and port interests in West Africa, fell by 10 percent at one point to 371.75 euros owing to concern about the economic impact of Ebola.
The Ebola epidemic could deal a $32.6 billion blow to the West African economy over the next year if officials cannot get it under control, the World Bank warned.
The worst-ever outbreak of the disease has killed nearly 3,500 people in west Africa since the start of the year.
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