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European markets tumble
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November 12, 2001: 11:53 a.m. ET
Terror fears after plane crash prompt market losses
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LONDON (CNN) - European markets tumbled on Monday, led by airline and insurance companies, after a passenger jet crash in New York.
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300 index closed down 2.9. percent, while the Euro Stoxx 50 index, which comprises the euro zone's top companies, shed 3.1 percent.
The Nasdaq 100 opened down 3.4 percent while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 1.7 percent.
CNN confirmed the plane was American Airlines Flight 587 from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
The plane was an Airbus A-300. EADS, Europe's biggest aerospace company and owner of 80 percent of Airbus, dropped 9.4 percent.
UK carrier British Airways fell 6.5 percent, while Luthansa dropped 6.4 percent and shares in KLM Royal Dutch Airlines also dropped 6.4 percent.
Shares in Alitalia were suspended on the Milan bourse after falling 10 percent.
The airline sector has been pummelled since the events of September 11 when hijacked planes were crashed into New York and Washington, prompting a slump in airline travel and a surge in security costs.
Europe's insurance sector, meanwhile, which could face another huge bill for any damage caused by Monday's crash -- having just paid out billions to claimants as a result of September 11 -- was down 4.25 percent.
France's AXA lost 6.1 percent while Swiss Re, the world's second largest reinsurance group, shed 3.2 percent. The stock was already under pressure ahead of a share increase.
Germany's Allianz gave up 3.2 percent.
The CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris lost 3 percent to reach 4,376.36, while Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax dropped 3.3 percent to 4,748.89. 
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