Frankfurt - A new grim warning from the US Federal Reserve about the outlook for the giant American economy triggered another share sell-off around the world with stocks in Europe slumping by about 3 per cent in early trading Thursday.

Europe's broad-based Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index had dropped 2.9 per cent to 2228.99 as the trading day got underway following steep falls across Asia and after stocks on Wall Street plummeted by more than 5 per cent on Wednesday.

Singapore - Singapore share prices slid Thursday, reflecting a gloomy economic outlook and the regional downward trend.

The Straits Times Index fell 3.1 per cent, or 51.64 points, to close at 1,613.95.

Trading volume on the Singapore Exchange was thin, totaling 950.5 million shares. The exchange closed the day with 324 losers and 140 gainers.

Singapore shares have been under pressure all this week as the city-state's and regional corporations try to weather the impact of the global financial crisis, economists said.

Jakart

Hong Kong - Hong Kong stocks fell 4.04 per cent Thursday, joining a regional downward spiral in share prices after heavy overnight losses on Wall Street.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index closed at 12,298, down 517 points. Turnover was 44.6 billion Hong Kong dollars (5.75 billion US dollars).

At one point, the index fell more than 6 per cent and threatened to close below 12,000; however, it bounced back slightly in later trading to stay above that barrier.

Amsterdam - The main AEX index on the Amsterdam stock exchange opened at this year's absolute low of 231.09 Thursday, down 2.9 per cent from the previous day's closing figure.

The previous low of 231.50 was reached in October.

By 9:30 am (0830 GMT), the AEX demonstrated little change and stood at 231.53, a loss of 2.77 per cent compared to closing time Wednesday, when the AEX had lost 5 per cent.

Seoul - Shares crashed Thursday on the Seoul sto