| Fear of severe downturn grips world markets Fears of a severe recession gripped financial markets as dire unemployment figures from the US drove long-term interest rates down to record lows  Insurers lead Footsie on downward path Aviva, Prudential and Legal & General punished amid fresh concerns over capital positions and rights issues, while commodity stocks take another beating on oil price concerns Fear stalks the world's economies Anxiety about a severe recession gripped financial markets as dire unemployment figures from the US drove long-term interest rates to record lows Europe stocks fall to five-year low Fears over severity of global recession fuels continuing sell-off in financials and commodities, with Credit Suisse and UBS leading the retreat Hedge fund investors pull out record $40bn Hedge fund investors pulled a record $40bn out of the industry in October as poor performance prompted a flight to cash, according to data on Thursday Thousands of auto jobs face axe A number of leading carmakers, including Peugeot, GM and announced plans to cut thousands of jobs and reduce output as there is no end in sight for the auto sector's woes Lukoil linked with Repsol deal Russia's second largest oil group emerges as potential buyer of minority stake in Repsol as La Caixa confirms talks on selling 12.5% stake Ahold boosted by own-label products Ahold, the Dutch retailer, said the introduction of own-label products had helped it recover profit margins and to report better-than-expected third quarter results AstraZeneca plans 1,400 job cuts Anglo-Swedish drugs group Astrazeneca announced 1,400 job cuts as it revealed that it had been awarded a temporary restraining by a New Jersey judge to halt the sale of a generic version of Pulmicort Air France-KLM profits fall sharply Europe's biggest airline measured by turnover says it will continue to be affected by deteriorating economic conditions but it expects to remain profitable at the operational level this year Italy poised to approve Alitalia sale The centre-right government is set to formalise the controversial deal for the lossmaking airline in spite of complaints by rival carriers of illegal state aid D Bank job cuts focus on New York and London Deutsche Bank is to shed 900 jobs as it responds to the financial crisis by reshaping its investment banking operations Other industrials to follow BASF's lead A new wave of industrial restructuring is on the way BASF to cut output by 25% BASF, the Germany-based chemicals group, will cut output by 25 per cent and reduce the working hours of 20,000 of its staff for the next two months, as the effects of the credit crunch continue to affect the real economy Solarworld plans to bid for Opel Opel's plea for financial help took a bizarre turn when Solarworld, the German solar energy company, announced it was prepared to buy the ailing carmakers' German operations News Wizard |