World stocks tumble on economy fears | U.S. | Reuters

World stocks tumble on economy fears | U.S. | Reuters

"A mixture of weak global economic data, poor corporate data, increasing fears about the possibility of a recession ... have left investors drowning in a sea of red," said Henk Potts, equity strategist at Barclays Stockbrokers.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was down 5.8 percent, taking its 2008 year-to-date losses to more than 15 percent.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei average earlier lost 3.86 percent to close at a two-year low and MSCI's main emerging market stocks benchmark was down 3.9 percent.