World Stocks Plunge On Economy Fears

Stock markets have been jittery amid fears that the economy is in a parlous state.

Stock markets have dropped sharply amid warnings about the health of the global economy.

In New York, the Dow Jones index was down more than 3 percent. Europe's main stock markets were plunging more than 4 percent, while Asian markets have closed down.

Earlier in Washington, World Bank President Robert Zoellick warned that the world's economy was "in a danger zone."

"I still think that the double-dip recession for the world's major economies is unlikely" he said at a news conference in Washington on September 22. "But my confidence in that belief is being eroded daily by the steady drip of difficult economic news."

On September 21, the U.S. Federal Reserve warned of "significant downside risks" as it unveiled a stimulus plan aimed at helping boosting the flagging U.S. economy.

compiled from agency reports