New York, Aug. 19 : Global stocks plummeted Friday amid signs of a possible U. S. recession and renewed worries over the health of Europe''s banks.

Oil prices fell to near 79 dollars a barrel in Asia, extending a major sell-off fueled by investor fears that slowing global growth will undermine demand for crude. The dollar was higher against the euro but down against the yen.

European shares opened sharply lower, with Britain''s FTSE 100 dropping two percent to 4,992.23.

Germany''s DAX shed 4.3 percent to 5,356.83 and France''s CAC-40 sank 3.5 percent to 2,968.83.

According to ABC News, Wall Street was headed for a slide, with Dow Jones industrial futures down 1.5 percent to 10,849 and S&P 500 futures slipping 1.7 percent to 1,123.80.

Asian shares also took a beating. Japan''s Nikkei 225 index dropped 2.5 percent to 8,719.24 and Hong Kong''s Hang Seng slid 3.1 percent to 19,399.92.

South Korea''s benchmark Kospi index was the worst performer in Asia, falling 6.2 percent to 1,744.88, its lowest close in nearly a year.

The decline of 115.70 points was the Kospi''s third-largest ever, but the percentage drop was far from the 12 percent record decline on Sept. 12, 2001, according to stock market operator Korea Exchange.

According to CBS News, the Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 400 points Thursday in a return to the wild swings in the market last week, as more signs of economic weakness revived investors'' fears of another recession.

The intense selling on Thursday started as soon as trading began, and the Dow was down 528 points shortly after the opening bell. The drop ended four days of relative calm in the stock market.

Market strategists said investors were increasingly pessimistic about the economy.

The U. S. and European economies are "dangerously close to recession," Morgan Stanley economists wrote in a report.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 419 points, or 3.7 percent, to 10,991. The Standard and Poor 500 was down 53, or 4.5 percent, to 1,141. The Nasdaq composite was down 131, or 5.2 percent, to 2,380.
(ANI)