US stimulus package fails to lift markets

INTERNATIONAL stock markets spiralled downwards yesterday, on the back of a less-than-favourably received fresh stimulus package put forward by US economic policymakers and dire warnings from the World Bank.

European stocks hit a two-year low; all of the continent’s main national exchanges seeing falls of between 4% and 5%.

The US Federal Reserve’s two-day think-in didn’t come up with enough ideas to impress international investors, while World Bank president Robert Zoellick added pressure by saying the world’s leading economies need to act quickly to resolve their individual crises or risk ruining the global economy as a whole, adding that the world has now entered “a danger zone”.