Amsterdam  - The negative mood on the Amsterdam stock exchange persisted on Wednesday, with the main index AEX at 266 points, down 6 per cent, by mid-afternoon.

All but two companies - publisher Reed Elsevier and supermarket multinational Royal Ahold - trading at the AEX saw their share value fall.

Navigation software manufacturer TomTom dropped most (down 15.30 per cent), followed by construction giants Arcellor Mittal (down 10.94 per cent) and Royal BAM group (down 10.57 per cent).

Shares of insurer Fortis holding initially increased in value (up 2.82 per cent), but by the afternoon had dropped by 3.15 per cent and stood at 1.17 euros by 4 pm. (dpa)