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World Economy In Turmoil After Attack on U.S.
NEW YORK, Sept 12 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The attacks on the United States Tuesday by hijacked planes, which crashed into New York's World Trade Center and Washington's Pentagon building, reverberated across the globe with such speed that only few corners of the business world remained untouched.
Asia's financial markets have posted sharp losses, and the fallout of attacks in the U.S. has thrown them into turmoil, BBC's online news service reported.
Share prices in Japan and Hong Kong plunged, while trading in South Korea was suspended within minutes when stocks reached their maximum losses permitted on any one day.
Stock prices in Tokyo fell 6.6%, crashing through the 10,000 point level Wednesday, as investors fled after the attacks in the United States, brokers said, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Moreover, the Turkish stock exchange was closed Wednesday in the wake of the attacks, the head of the Istanbul bourse, Osman Birsen, announced, AFP said.
"Given the extraordinary situation in the United States and the resulting incertitude in the international financial markets, no trading will take place today [Wednesday]," he said in a statement.
The statement said the bourse would re-open on Thursday. Anatolia news agency said the Istanbul gold exchange would also be closed for the day.
In India, share prices fell 4.1% early Wednesday, sending trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) into panic selling, dealers said.
In Hong Kong, share prices plunged 9.5% during Wednesday's morning trade to below the 10,000-point level for the first time in two and a half years.
Dealers said the sharp fall was in line with reactions in other regional markets, which suffered heavy losses in the wake of the attacks in New York and Washington.
Meanwhile, investors moved rapidly into gold and bonds, traditional havens in times of crisis, while the political uncertainty caused the price of oil to surge.
Financial markets in the United States will stay closed Wednesday. Many U.S. and European financial services companies had offices in the destroyed World Trade Center. Firms were scrambling Tuesday to determine the status of their employees and find locations for survivors to return to work.
The world's key central banks have pledged action to ensure financial stability.
Led by the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, and swiftly joined by the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank and the Swiss authorities - among others - all have promised to provide sufficient "liquidity" in order to keep the world economy going.
This should provide companies and governments with enough cheap credit to keep functioning, investing and avoid a global recession.
Wall Street is staying closed for a second day, reportedly for the first time since World War II.
But with money moving out of most stocks, only the shares of companies involved with defense, oil and gold posted gains.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar fell against multiple currencies.
Most major businesses throughout the U.S.'s financial center closed early Tuesday, and limited access to and from the city made the prospects for normal operations Wednesday doubtful as well.
The impact of the attack was also felt across the U.S., as many major businesses and factories, including the nation's major automakers, also closed as a precaution, CNN online service reported.
Entertainment providers responded with caution as well, as Walt Disney also closed its major theme parks.
Phonelines and Internet connections, predictably, were jammed with immense volume. Many major news sites could not keep up with the congestion.
While the financial markets in New York will be closed Wednesday, it is not clear when they will reopen. The last time the New York Stock Exchange was closed during a regular trading day was during the funeral of former U.S. president Richard Nixon on April 27, 1994.
No information on deaths from the attacks was immediately available, but the toll is certain to be high.
The attacks hit just as the New York workday began Tuesday, when the buildings were filling with people. The World Trade Center towers housed about 50,000 employees and 100,000 visitors on a typical day, according to some estimates.
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