Markets tumble after frantic weekend
Updated on 06 October 2008
Shares slide to a four-year low as European governments continue the scramble to secure deposits.
Stock markets around the world tumbled this morning, with the FTSE index of a hundred leading shares already falling by more than three hundred points at one point to hit a four-year low.
It puts more pressure on the Chancellor Alistair Darling to come up with a contingency plan. He will make a statement in parliament this afternoon.
In a frantic bid to calm the markets, more countries across the continent have been rushing to guarantee savers deposits. Ireland was the first country to announce a 100 per cent safeguard for all savings accounts last week.
On Friday, Greece followed Dublin's lead and yesterday Germany appeared to follow suit, prompting similar promises from Austria and Denmark. Sweden's also increased the level of protection for depositors.
