World markets plummet after Dow sell-off

Asia was particularly hard hit after a sell-off in the US saw its benchmark index, the Dow Jones, shed more than 250 points, or 3.4%, to close at 7,114, its lowest finish for 12 years. In Japan, the Nikkei index closed down almost 1.5% at 7268.56, while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was down 3% as investors continued to show little faith in Barack Obama's economic action plan. The FTSE 100 followed suit, plunging 0.5% by 9am, but losses were stemmed by strong openings for Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). Reports Alistair Darling will scrap Lloyds' forecasted £48...