Dow Jones hit by worst fall since 2008

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has plunged by nearly 1,000 points in the biggest one day fall since the financial crisis.

The leading US stock market index is down 4% at 24,484.15.

It is the worst fall in points since September 2008 during the depths of the financial crisis.

The decline extends losses on Friday, when strong wage growth data raised the prospect of accelerated interest rate rises.

Monday's sell-off surpasses a 777.68 points drop on the Dow Jones on 29 September 2008 when Congress rejected a $700bn bank bailout plan following the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers.

The decline in the Dow was closely followed by the wider S&P 500 stock index, down 2.6% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq, down 2%.

London's main share index, the FTSE 100, closed down 1.46% while earlier, the biggest markets in Asia fell between 1% and 2.5%.

The decline followed months of market increases, which had fuelled concerns that share prices were over valued.

The Dow, which tracks 30 major US companies, has fallen more than 1,000 points over two days of trading.

The Dow dramatic fall marks a turnaround from January, when it raced raced past the 25,000 point and 26,000 point milestones in less than a month.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets, said: "Equity traders were enjoying a bullish run recently, and the jolt from the major decline in the US last Friday has triggered a worldwide round of profit taking."

US shares suffer sharpest drop since 2016

The Dow Jones rose more than 25% in 2017 - a year which was also unusual for its lack of sharp moves.

"There is going to be more volatility this year, " Andrew Wilson chief executive of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, told the BBC.

"We are in a cycle where central banks are reducing the amount of bonds they are buying and some central banks putting up interest rates," he said.

Strong wage gains reported on Friday provided a catalyst for the most recent losses, as investors saw it as a sign that inflation and interest rates might move faster than previously anticipated.

On Friday there was a hefty 4% loss for shares in Apple, which had been one of the markets' star performers in recent years.

That selling came despite a solid trading update from the company.