New York: Global stock markets failed to get a lift from dramatic interest rate cuts from central banks around the world, and Wall Street shares were hammered as rising job cuts and economic fears hit sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 2.51 per cent to 8,376.24 as investors stampeded toward the safety of US Treasury bonds after a series of big job-slashing announcements that highlighted the weak economic outlook.

The Nasdaq composite slid 3.14 per cent to 1,445.56 and the broad-market Standard Poor's 500 sank 2.92 per cent to 845.22.

In Europe, the losses were modest as traders digested the impact of big rate cuts by the European Central Bank and Bank of England.

London's FTSE 100 index closed down 0.15 per cent to 4,163.61,In Paris, the CAC 40 fell 0.17 per cent to 3,161.16 while the Frankfurt DAX lost 0.07 per cent to 4,564.23.

The European Central Bank cut its key interest rate by a record 0.75 percentage points to 2.50 per cent and the Bank of England cut by a full percentage point to 2.0 per cent.

In Sweden, the central bank reduced its benchmark rate by 1.75 percentage points to 2.0 per cent in the sharpest cut since 1992 and Denmark cut its rates by 0.75 points to 4.25 per cent in line with the ECB move.

US bonds rose as yields fell to fresh record lows amid an investor stampede to ultrasafe investments. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury dropped to 2.570 per cent from 2.676 per cent Wednesday and that on the 30-year bond eased to 3.084 per cent against 3.184 per cent.

In other markets, Brazil's Bovespa shed 0.48 per cent and the SP/TSX index in Canada dropped 2.88 per cent.

Tokyo closed down 0.62 per cent, Hong Kong lost 0.6 per cent and Seoul shed 1.23 per cent.

Source : PTI