Nasdaq tumbles on opening

NEWS US markets are continuing to tumble after the Nasdaq fell seven per cent in the first few minutes of trading. The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate by half a point to three per cent today in an attempt to soften the blow to stocks. Trading in London peaked briefly in the afternoon following the cut, but in New York stocks began to fall as soon as trading began for the first time since last Tuesday. Within a matter of minutes, the Nasdaq had tumbled seven per cent while the Dow Jones index fell 1.4 per cent. Airline stocks bore the brunt of the drop, but as trading got under way few sectors got off lightly. Among major technology stocks to plummet were Cisco down 6.08 per cent, General Electric down 10.27 per cent HP down 11.24 per cent, Intel down 4.33 per cent and Microsoft down 4.83 per cent. Morgan Stanley, which still has not accounted for many of its workers in the World Trade Centre building, bucked the trend by jumping 1.75 per cent. European markets also began to fall. London's FTSE was down 0.64 in minutes of New York opening, wiping out earlier gains. The TechMark fell two per cent. In Paris, the CAC 40 dropped one per cent and Frankfurt's Neuer Markt fell 1.1 per cent. Only the German Dax seemed to escape unscathed, jumping up 2.4 per cent just before 15:00 (BST). In a statement, the Federal Reserve vowed to prop the market with lowered rates and cash infusions if required and urged investors to buy stock. As trading progressed, stocks both sides of the Atlantic continued to fluctuate. Just after 15:00 (BST) the FTSE was back up 0.57 per cent, the Dax was up 1.42 per cent, the CAC 40 jumped 0.33 per cent and the TechMark was down 2.06 per cent. By 15:20 (BST) the Dow Jones was down 6.17 per cent and the Nasdaq regained some ground to sit 5.54 per cent down.