Wall Street indices continued their decline in midday trading Wednesday, adding to the gloomy mood on European markets as US investors reacted to depressed earnings reports, according to DPA. Wall Street opened down 2.5 per cent and stocks slid in Asia, Europe's blue-chip Stoxx 50 index dropped 5 per cent to 2235 in late trading as concerns set in about the outlook for the global economy and profits. By 1900 GMT, the blue-chip Dow Jones index had fallen 411.62 points, or 4.56 per cent, to 8,622.04. The broader based S&P 500 had shed 48.61 points, or 5.09 per cent, to 906.44. The high tech Nasdaq lost 64.09 points, or 3.78 per cent, to 1,632.59. The credit freeze, which has prompted massive government interventions in the US and Europe, thawed a little more on Wednesday. The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, for three-month loans in dollars slid 29 basis points to 3.54 per cent Wednesday, falling for the eighth day as central banks offered cash to revive lending, Bloomberg financial news service reported. But the Libor was still higher than the US central bank's target rate for overnight loans of 1.5 per cent. --More
