The sell-off in global shares entered its eighth day Friday with European stocks plunging after an unloading of shares across Asia as well as New York triggered a flight to safe haven investments, dpa reported. The European benchmark Stoxx 600 share index tumbled 2.84 per cent to 236.34 in early morning trading as investors cashed in their stocks amid worries about whether European leaders can contain the region's debt crisis and fears that the world economy could tip back into recession. On the week, the Stoxx 600 is down 11 per cent. After the long stretch of share market turmoil, stock trading was turning into a black Friday with national bourses such as London, Frankfurt and Paris posting even bigger falls when they opened. This prompted a fresh move by investors into safe-haven investments with the Swiss franc soaring to an all-time high and the price of gold edging up 0.6 per cent to 1,659 dollars an ounce. -- SPA
