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European stocks plunge
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September 20, 2001: 12:10 p.m. ET
Airlines, insurance stocks tumble on fallout from terror attacks on U.S.
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LONDON (CNN) - European bourses plunged on Thursday, closing near three-year lows as the financial fallout from last week's terrorist attacks in the U.S. continued.
Insurers and airlines faced more gloom as investors pulled their cash out of the companies which are bearing the brunt of the commercial repercussions of the events in the U.S.
London's FTSE 100 closed 3.5 percent lower at 4,556.9 and the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris ended down by 3.9 percent at 3,738.18, while the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt dived 5.1 percent to 3,835.30.
British Airways, Europe's largest airline, said it planned to cut 7,000 jobs, reduce scheduled flights by 10 percent and ground 20 aircraft as it tackles the effects of last week's deadly terrorist attack on New York and Washington.
BA, which derives a third of its revenue from transatlantic flights, joins a long list of airlines to announce jobs cuts.
BA (BAY) stock plunged 12.3 percent in London, while its German rival Deutsche Lufthansa (FLHA) fell 12.9 percent after saying it would take "immense efforts" to avoid an operating loss this year.
Swissair dived 9.7 percent. The Swiss flag carrier said its revenue losses from last week's attacks was 65 million Swiss francs. Dutch airline KLM lost 1.6 percent.
EADS (PEAD), Europe's biggest aerospace and defense company, fell 8.4 percent. The company said it would stick by its profit forecasts but the stock dropped after Lufthansa said it was postponing orders for 15 Airbus aircraft. EADS owns 80 percent of Boeing's rival Airbus.
Insurers were among the biggest decliners after Munich Re, the world's biggest reinsurer, doubled its forecast for claims to  2.1 billion due to damages caused by the attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center.
Munich Re (FMUV3) lost 6.7 percent. Swiss Re, the world's No. 2, fell 6.6 percent after it said it faced an after-tax burden of about two billion Swiss francs from the attacks. AXA (PCS), the world's biggest insurer, fell 5.6 percent in Paris.
Oil stocks extended the pervious session losses amid concerns that a global economic slowdown would damage the prospects for growth in profits.
Shell Transport & Trading (SHEL), which owns 40 percent of the world's second-largest oil company Royal Dutch/Shell Group, plunged 6.7 percent. Rival BP (BP-) dropped 3.5 percent and France's Total Fina Elf (PFP) dipped 4.5 percent.
Technology stocks fell after Philips Electronics, Europe's third-largest chip stocks, said third quarter semiconductor sales could fall by up to 18 percent from the second quarter as the industry grapples with its worst slump in more than two decades. The company's stocks dropped 4.9 percent.
Infineon Technologies (FIFX), the region's second-largest, dived 8.4 percent and No. 1 STMicroelectronics (PSTM) declined 5.2 percent.
In Amsterdam the AEX index tumbled 5.1 percent and the SMI in Zurich was 4.5 percent lower, while Milan's MIB30 index lost 4.9 percent.
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was down nearly 4 percent, with the insurance and transportation sectors in negative territory.
In the U.S. on Thursday, investors failed to be placated by economic comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and other government leaders, continuing the selloff that has plagued the markets since they reopened following last week's terrorist attack.
In midday trade, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 254.36 to 8,504.77, while the Nasdaq composite index lost 37.70 to 1,490.10. 
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