Paris  - The Paris Bourse was in freefall early Wednesday after Wall Street and Asian markets nosedived on recession fears.

After an hour of trading, the benchmark CAC 40 index was down 8.18 per cent, to 3,426.85, as all 40 listed stocks were on the losing side of the ledger.

The French-Belgian financial service group Dexia again led the way down, losing 20.34 per cent, to 4.70 euros.

However, industrials were hardest hit as a group, with steel giant ArcelorMittal, telecommunications equipment supplier Alcatel-Lucent and steel manufacturer Vallourec all losing more than 12 per cent of their value. (dpa)