World markets were hit by another bout of global economic growth fears today with London shares falling 2.8 per cent as the copper price was hammered. The euro also fell below its 1999 launch value versus the dollar for the first time in nine years, and to six-year lows against the pound. The single currency was hit by growing expectations that the European Central Bank will announce a government bond-buying programme to jumpstart the eurozone economy out of deflation. But wider market jitters were caused by the World Bank slashing its overall growth forecast for 2015 from 3.4 per cent to 3 per cent, citing stagnation in Europe and in Japan.
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World Bank slashes global growth forecasts due to stagnation in eurozone and Japan
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Plunging world copper price hits big miners and commodity shares
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FTSE 100 index plunges 180 points or 2.8%
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Euro dives to nine-year lows as ECB gears up for money printing
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Top economist says world economy 'running on one engine... the American one'
The fresh falls by the single currency came as an adviser to @placeholder's top court said that an earlier, unused, ECB bond-buying programme proposed in 2012 was pretty much legal.