LONDON, March 14: European stock markets tumbled further on Wednesday, following heavy falls on Wall Street and across Asia driven by renewed concern about the US housing sector.

The losses reversed much of the markets' tentative recovery from the recent global equities rout that was sparked late last month by worries over China's rapidly rising stock market -- and the slowing US economy.

In European trading on Wednesday, London's FTSE 100 of leading companies sank 1.42 per cent to 6,073.50 points.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 fell 1.55 per cent to 6,521.58 and in Paris the CAC 40 index shed 1.70 percent to 5,340.62 points.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chip shares dropped 1.73 per cent to 3,948.34 points.

The euro stood at 1.3187 dollars.

The fresh slump in global equities was sparked on Tuesday by news that the number of bad mortgage loans was rising in the United States, the world's largest economy. In reaction, Wall Street shares took a beating, while European indices finished Tuesday with large falls.

Dealers said concerns are growing that a general collapse in the US sub-prime mortgage lending sector could spill over to the housing market as a whole and perhaps to the broader economy.

On Wednesday, the downturn spilled over into Asia where share prices were sharply lower in Tokyo and Hong Kong.

In European trading, financial stocks put in weak performances as investors tried to digest the impact of the US sell-off.

In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank shares plunged 3.58 per cent to 93.01 euros, while French peer Credit Agricole lost 3.30 per cent to 28.78 euros in Paris deals.

In London, the share price of British bank HBOS tumbled 4.54 per cent to 1,030 pence, and rival Royal Bank of Scotland saw its stock decline 3.42 per cent to 1,978 pence.

In US deals on Wednesday, Wall Street witnessed the worst day for US shares since February 27, when the Dow plunged more than 400 points amid a global stock market rout.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.97 per cent to close on Wednesday at 12,075.96 points. The Nasdaq composite index plummeted 2.12 per cent to 2,350.57 and the broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index retreated 2.04 per cent to 1,377.95 points.—AFP