Amsterdam  - For the second week in a row, the main index of the Amsterdam stock exchange AEX dropped dramatically on Monday morning. By 10:42 am (0842 GMT) the index had lost 5.83 per cent and stood at 323.97 points, with some analysts speaking of a "blood bath."

There was no stock posting any gains in the morning, with Financial firms losing out most.

Leading the list of companies who saw their stock value drop was insurer Aegon (down 20.37 per cent), followed by bank and insurance company ING Group (down 10.92 per cent).

There was no trade in shares of Fortis NV. On Friday, the Dutch government nationalized the Dutch division of the former Belgian- Dutch bank and insurance giant.

On Sunday night the French bank BNP Paribas purchased the majority of Fortis' Belgium-Luxembourg division, with the respective government retaining partial ownership.

As a consequence, analysts are still calculating the new value of Fortis shares. The new value depends on the question which part of Fortis one share in fact represents.

Fortis CEO Filip Dierckx meanwhile told reporters on Monday that Fortis will remain registered at the Dutch stock exchange for the time being. (dpa)