LONDON - Worries about the global economy pushed Britain's top share index to its lowest close in three months as spiking risk aversion hammered banks and miners while energy stocks fell on weaker commodity prices. The FTSE 100 ended 113.84 points or 2.17 percent lower at 5,139.31, its lowest close since November 5, having snapped a three-session winning streak on Wednesday, shedding 30.16 points.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:eurofirst

EUROPE - European shares fell by the most in 10 weeks, with Spanish Santander leading a fall in banks, hurt by worries about euro zone peripheral countries, and after U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly rose. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares fell 2.8 percent to 992.96 points, its lowest close since November 30 and its biggest one-day percentage fall in 10 weeks.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:euromarkets

FRANKFURT - The DAX index ended at 5,533.24 points, down 138.85 or 2.45 percent.

PARIS - The CAC-40 index closed at 3,689.25 points, down 104.22 or 2.75 percent.

ZURICH - The Swiss market index closed at 6,396.51 points, down 157.29 or 2.4 percent.

MILAN - The FT IT All Share index closed at 21,938.1 points, down 758.86 or 3.34 percent.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:nikkei

TOKYO - Japan's Nikkei average lost 0.46 percent, with Toyota Motor Corp. sliding further on its recall woes and Sharp Corp. tumbling after reporting a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit. The benchmark Nikkei pared its losses to close down 48.35 points at 10,355.98 after earlier falling as much as 1.2 percent.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:hang seng

HONG KONG - Stocks fell, as investors took profit on banks after the investment arm of China's sovereign wealth fund denied a newspaper report that it would buy new shares from the country's top lenders. The Hang Seng Index ended down 1.84 percent, or 380.44 points at 20,341.64, snapping a three-day rise.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:asx

SYDNEY - Stocks fell 0.57 percent with major retailers and miners leading the fall on poor December retail sales and a strong US dollar that dragged commodity prices lower. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 26.29 points to 4,621.6. The index gained 0.9 percent on Wednesday.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:south africa

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa' rand and stocks fell in line with weaker global equity markets but government bonds gained as investors switched from shares into debt, betting that interest rates will remain low for longer. The All-share index closed at 26,318.36 points, down 608.1 or 2.26 percent. The All Gold index closed at 2,116.46 points, down 114.56 or 5.13 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 20,956.22 points, down 120.72 or 0.57 percent.