World markets slide on 'disappointing' eurozone summit

Global markets are down this morning as investors vent their concern at eurozone leaders' "disappointing" efforts to stop the debt crisis.

French president Nicholas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel are calling for a tax on financial transactions to raise more revenues as they respond to the euro debt crisis, but the meeting failed to alleviate investors' concerns.

The sentiment hit the markets, with all the major European indices opening lower.

The FTSE index of 100 leading shares was down 1.12% to 5,297.52 just before 9am.

Financials were among the worst hit, with Standard Life down 3.48% to 205p per share, Barclays fell 3.41% to 175.40p, and Royal Bank of Scotland share fell 3.15% to 24.92p.

In the eurozone the picture was the same. The German Dax fell 1.29% to 5,917.39, and in France the Cac 40 was down 0.4% to 3,217.99.

Asian shares rose for a third day but closed lower than expected. Japan's Nikkei 225 was off 0.9% while the Hang Seng Index climbed 1.2%.

US markets continued early trading patterns, closing down almost 1% as weaker German growth and a profit warning from Walmart combined with the disappointing European summit hit investor confidence.

The S&P 500 was down 0.97% to 1,192.76 points and the Dow Jones lost 0.67%, to end the day at 11,405.9.