Things to Remember

European stocks drifted at the open, after Asian stocks tumbled overnight on fears of a recession.

The FTSE-100 index was up 23.09 at 4063.98 - after opening lower - with France's Cac 40 up 11.9 at 3310.08 and Germany's Dax down 31.63 at 4539.44.

Japan's Nikkei index closed down 2.5%, recovering from earlier lows of as much as 7%, amid concern that slow exports could accelerate a fall into recession.

The White House is to hold a global summit on the crisis next month.

The meeting will debate the reforms needed to avoid another financial crisis and look at the progress being made. Leaders from the G20 group of nations - the world's leading industrialised countries and major developing nations - will attend.

In other developments:

• South Korea's Kospi index fell 7.4%, its lowest close since July 2005. The Korean won lost 5% of its value against the dollar
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 4.7%, at its lowest ebb since April 2005
• At one point, the Nikkei was trading at 8,016.61, its lowest level for more than five years. It recovered to close down 213 points at 8,460 points
• The yen strengthened against the dollar and the euro. The dollar hit a seven-month low of 96.85 yen, while the euro hit a six-year low of 123.40 yen.
• Indian shares opened down 4.8% at their lowest since June 2006. The rupee has so far shed nearly 21% against the dollar in 2008
• In Australia, the benchmark index closed down 4.4%.

Export fears

The fall in Japanese stocks was triggered in part by weak export data.

The impact of the global slowdown has had a clear impact on Japan's exports Tatsushi Shikano, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities

Its trade surplus plunged 94% to 95.1bn yen ($970.1m; £596.7m) in September and exports grew only 1.5% in September from a year earlier, far below forecasts.

Exports of Japanese cars to the US fell, a sign of slowing consumer demand in the world's largest economy.

The continued strength of the yen prompted fears that this will cause further damage to already weak exports.

"The impact of the global slowdown has had a clear impact on Japan's exports and this was even before the financial crisis erupted in September," Tatsushi Shikano, senior economist, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

News of weak Japanese exports knocked shares

"Sluggish export volumes will put a drag on Japan's industrial output and its export-reliant economy in the coming months," he added.

The plunge came in the wake of Wednesday's trading on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones index closed down 5.7%, amid an increasingly gloomy outlook for the global economy.

Job cuts at Yahoo and drugs firm Merck have increased economic concerns in the US.