Berlin - German business confidence fell sharply in October, a key survey released Monday said, as the world financial crisis triggered panic selling on global stock markets and fears grew about a looming recession.

As the economic gloom spreads around the world, Germany's closely watched Ifo business confidence index dropped more than expected to 90.2 points this month from 92.9 points in September.

Analysts had predicted that the index, which is drawn up by the Munich-based Ifo economic institute, would fall to 91.

Based on a survey of 7,000 German executives, the October report comes in the wake of a slew of major economic sentiment surveys, which are pointing to a bleaker outlook taking shape across Europe. (dpa)