A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Thursday:
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FRANKFURT, Germany ? A raft of downbeat indicators stoked fears that Europe is on the edge of recession as it grapples with a crippling debt crisis.
The European Commission's index of consumer optimism from the European Commission fell to a two-year low of minus 18.5 in September in the 17 countries that use the euro. Meanwhile industrial orders ? key for Europe's manufacturing driven economy ? slid 2.1 percent in July, according to Eurostat, the EU's statistics office.
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LONDON ? Mounting evidence that the world economy is slowing down sharply sent global stock markets spiraling down as investors brushed off the U.S. Federal Reserve's efforts to spur growth and focused instead on the central bank's gloomy outlook.
France's CAC-40 was down a hefty 5.3 percent while Germany's DAX slid 5 percent. The FTSE index of Britain's leading shares ended down 4.7 percent.
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TOKYO ? In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 2.1 percent. South Korea's Kospi slid 2.9 percent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 2.6 percent down.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng saw the biggest fall, diving over 900 points, or 4.9 percent.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index closed down 2.8 percent.
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FRANKFURT, Germany ? The departing chief economist of the European Central Bank warned that heavy government debts threatened the existence of the euro currency, and urged the EU to take much tougher steps to force overspending governments back into line.
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ATHENS, Greece ? Austerity-weary Greeks lashed out against more tax hikes and pension cuts with a new round of strikes, with public transport workers, taxi drivers, teachers and air traffic controllers walking off the job.
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MADRID ? Spain's Parliament restored a deficit-reducing wealth tax in its final session before dissolving to make way for an election that opposition conservatives are favored to win.
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TAIPEI, Taiwan ? Taiwan and Japan signed an arrangement to bolster mutual investment despite their lack of formal diplomatic ties.
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BRASILIA ? Brazil's government statistics agency says the unemployment rate in Latin America's biggest economy was 6 percent in August. That's unchanged from the previous month, but the lowest figure for a month of August since 2002.
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DUBLIN ? Ireland's economy has grown 1.6 percent in the second quarter, more than expected, and appears on course to exit a three-year recession.
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PARIS ? The top tier of luxury consumers curbed their spending on high-end clothes, accessories and jewelry in the first half of 2011, while regular consumers picked up the slack for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, a study by American Express' consulting unit said.
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