Stocks sink again worldwide

LONDON -- U.S.and European stocks sank again Thursday following drops in Asia that saw Tokyo's Nikkei index fall more than 11%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened up, but soon slipped into a downward spiral. Stocks were off by more than 300 points shortly after 11 a.m. ET.

After Wednesday's 700-plus-point Dow loss, Asia stocks on Thursday followed U.S. stocks into the pit. Tokyo's benchmark index lost 1,089 points, falling to 8,458.45 — its second-worst day ever and worst since the Oct. 19, 1987 stock market crash. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 4.8%, South Korea's Kospi 9.4%, Singapore's Straits Times index 5.3%.

In afternoon trading in Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 2.07%, Germany's DAX index fell 1.15%, and France's CAC-40 fell 2.04%.

The lower trading in European shares came as:

• Switzerland became the latest European government to roll out a plan to rescue its banks. UBS, the biggest bank in a country known for its banking stability, will take $5.3 billion from the government and lay off $60 billion in bad assets to the country's central bank.

• Leaders of the 27-member European Union prepared to call for a coordinated supervision of the bloc's financial system and a crisis unit to help manage financial turmoil, Reuters reported. The leaders, meeting in Brussels, also said an international summit later this year should take quick steps on standards of regulation and transparency in the world banking and investing.

Earlier in the week, European shares rose on optimism that bank rescue plans by Britain, Germany, France and the United States would stave off a global financial meltdown. But they haven't staved off worries that world economies are slipping into recession.

The latest bout of selling was stoked by a record percentage fall on Wall Street Wednesday after weaker-than-expected U.S. retail sales data and a downbeat assessment from the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated that the world's largest economy is already, or about to fall, into recession.