Share prices, commodities and the euro fell sharply as investors fled risky assets amid growing fears of a eurozone banking crisis and rising tension on the Korean peninsula.
Stock markets took a pounding, leaving the FTSE Asia- Pacific index down 3.1 per cent at a 10-month low. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped through 10,000 as the dollar and US Treasuries benefited from the flight from risk.
Four Spanish savings banks announced plans to merge, in the latest attempt to restructure the country's financial sector. But analysts were sceptical about the plan, questioning whether they would cut costs or clean up balance sheets.
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