Austria's main share index was down 2.8 per cent by Thursday 1 pm (1100 GMT), after having nosedived by 6.7 per cent earlier in the day, according to dpa. While global fears of a US economic slowdown and Europe's debt problems were the main reasons for the slump, the dominance of financial stocks at the Vienna stock exchange exacerbated the trend, said Helge Rechberger, chief equity analyst at Raiffeisen Bank International. "There is a sentiment, and there is a fear that something could happen," he said, referring to the global economy. The biggest losers were companies dependent on economic growth cycles. Shares of steelmaker Voestalpine fell 4.3 per cent, while shares of oil and gas group OMV dropped 4.4 per cent. The trend would end only if EU countries and the European Central Bank came up with a solution for Italy's debt problem, Rechberger said. "If there is no movement, I see no recovery for the markets," he added.
