World Markets Retreat As Dow Plunges (PG)

Friday saw stock markets around the world pull back as investors were left worried after an unprecedented sell-off on Wall Street that saw the Dow plunge on Thursday. Investors were left surprised when technical glitches in the trading of Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) stock led to the Dow plunging by almost 1000 points. This sharp drop triggered a major sell-off late on Thursday.

European markets fell in morning trade and Asian markets closed in the red. The CAC 40 in France sank 1.8% in early trading and Germany's DAX lost 1.1%. As the prospects of a hung Parliament in the United Kingdom became clear the FTSE 100 fell 0.8%. The situation was no better in the Asian markets with Japan's benchmark Nikkei index declining by 3.1%, the Shanghai Composite tumbled 1.9% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed the session down 1.1%.