Sydney - Investors fled Aus

World leaders wrestled anew Wednesday with recession fears as stock values cascaded, defying hopes of US and European governments that their escalating interventions into the finance system, mostly recently the purchase of bank shares, would stabilize the markets.

A US central bank official, Janet Yellen, president of the San Francisco branch of the Federal Reserve, said that the US economy "appears to be in a recession," based on data and the consensus among top analysts.

US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke warned that the emergency actions of the last month were unlikely to produce a swift economic turnaround, even if markets stabilize.

Tokyo - The Tokyo stock market slipped in early trading Thursday after Wall Street's blue-chip Dow Jones industrials los

New York - US stocks continued dropping through Wednesday, hit by the largest drop of retail sales in three years, growing worry over a US recession and a record federal budget deficit.

The three major US indices shed more than 5 per cent each by 1845 GMT, with the negative momentum dragging down Europe's markets, where Europe's blue-chip Stoxx50 closed 5 per cent down.

US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke warned that the emergency action taken by the Bush administration in response to the financial crisis is unlikely to produce a swift economic recovery.

Amman - Arab stock markets plummeted on Wednesday after two days of strong gains, apparently in response to declines at the Wall Street and Asian markets and fears that a world recession has already ushered in, financial analysts said.

The only exception was the Saudi stock exchange, which closed slightly in the green after violent fluctuations.

New York  - US stocks continued their decline at opening bell Wednesday, hit by the largest drop of retail sales in three years and growing worry over a US recession.

The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Janet Yellen, said late Tuesday that the US is already in a recession and that the job of the central bank is to "mitigate the dark scenario on the downside risk."