Frankfurt- German shares slumped sharply Wednesday after the dive on Asian markets, taking the bellwether DAX index in Frankfurt 4.6 per cent lower to 5,092 in the first half hour of trading.

While last week it was bank stocks that were hardest hit, blue- chip industrials took a punishing Wednesday as sentiment spread that a world recession was all but unavoidable.

Automaker Daimler was off 8.9 per cent and engineer Siemens was down 8.1 per cent. (dpa)