Weak Japanese export data, bleak outlooks from carmakers and news of job cuts at Goldman Sachs and Chrysler deepened fears of an extended global recession and sent most markets lower again today.
The Dublin market was marginally lower this afternoon as shares in the main financials traded lower.
Irish Life & Permanent shed 44 cents to be trading at €3.10 while Anglo Irish and Bank of Ireland both dropped 5 cents to €1.75 and €1.60 respectively.
Allied Irish shares were up 11 cents to €3.15.
US stocks were also mainly higher after two days of steep losses. The Dow and the S&P 500 rose about half a per cent in early trade, while Nasdaq was lower.
But Asian stocks fell to a four-year low and the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares shed 2 per cent.
Sweden and New Zealand responded to the worldwide financial crisis by cutting interest rates. Investor flight from emerging economies, a number of which looked set to seek help from the International Monetary Fund, compounded market anxiety.
US stocks struggled to stay positive after major indexes hit a five-year lows yesterday.
More bad company news today showed the breadth of the slowdown, which has hit profits from banks to chemical makers to hotels.
"The market is coming to grips, after being in denial for so long, with a global recession," said Barry Ritholtz, director of equity research at Fusion IQ in New York.
Japanese exports grew only 1.5 per cent in September from a year earlier, well short of forecasts, prompting worries that the world's second-biggest economy is heading into recession and renewing speculation of a rate cut.
A dive in car shipments to the United States and slowing demand from emerging economies hurt Japanese exports. Sony slashed its operating profit forecast, citing reduced demand for flat TVs and digital cameras.
Italy's Fiat, Germany's Daimler and South Korea's Hyundai Motor added to the gloom among automakers with bleak 2009 forecasts.
US carmaker Chrysler said that it was closing one assembly plant early and eliminating a shift at another, resulting in 1,825 job cuts.
General Motors said it was taking steps to preserve its cash, temporarily suspending its company match for its 401(k) retirement savings program and assessing staffing levels.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the company was planning to begin involuntary layoffs of salaried workers.
New York-based bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc plans to cut nearly 3,300 jobs, or around 10 percent of staff, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.