By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Poor economic data around the world and another international barrage of corporate profit warnings and job cut announcements intensified fears of deep global recession on Friday.
Seventy-nine years to the day after the 1929 crash that led into the Great Depression, stock markets dropped around the globe, currencies experienced almost unprecedented volatility, and oil and other commodities tumbled on fears of plummeting demand that would accompany a global economic slowdown.
"There's definitely concern that this could be a recession for the United States, deep and long," Doreen Mogavero, chief executive of independent New York Stock Exchange member firm Mogavero, Lee & Co Inc, said on the exchange's trading floor.
Japan's Nikkei index ended down 9.6 percent, and European shares lost 5.4 percent to close at their lowest level in more than five years.
Reports of the euro zone's private economy shrinking this month at the fastest pace since monetary union and a much deeper-than-expected contraction in Britain's economy in the third quarter led many analysts to declare "recession."
The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 indexes both closed down over 3 percent, but pared losses after dropping more than 5 percent at the open. The Dow ended down 312.30 points, or 3.59 percent, and the S&P closed down 31.34 points, or 3.45 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index ended down 51.88 points, or 3.23 percent.
The economic crisis prompted further U.S. government intervention: Officials stepped in to help finance the sale of ailing Cleveland-based National City Corp and also prepared to announce 20 more banks that will receive capital injections.
Speculation about a bailout of the U.S. auto industry increased as General Motors has intensified negotiations to buy Chrysler's auto operations, intending to seek U.S. government aid to support any deal, people familiar with the talks told Reuters. Chrysler said it was slashing about 5,000 white-collar jobs.
Foreign exchange markets saw extreme volatility, with the yen rocketing to multiyear highs against the dollar and euro. The euro/yen rate fell 10 percent at one point, also kindling speculation over how central banks might respond.
OPEC agreed to cut oil output by 1.5 million barrels per day in a bid to halt a steep slide in prices. But the price of U.S. crude fell more than 5 percent, below $64 as economic gloom overshadowed the cut.
Other commodities from copper and zinc to sugar and coffee were battered by sharp selling -- bad news for emerging market economies that are major producers
A range of corporate giants reeled.
Sony's shares plunged to a 13-year low after it halved its profit forecast. Samsung posted a 44 percent drop in quarterly profit and Europe's largest airline group, Air France-KLM, issued a profit warning.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus worldwide; Editing by Leslie Adler)
