US stock markets gaveup early gains on Tuesday to join European share indexes in the doldrums.

More scandal over the Enron affair and misery amongst hi-tech firms sent Wall Street firms back down into the dumps.

How this crash compares

There have been far worse "bear" markets Four crashes in 1987 and 1929 saw more than 10% wiped off markets in one day The Wall Street Crash of 1929 did not see recovery until 1954 Click here for more

The falls follow on from substantial losses on Monday, dashing hopes of a recovery.

The blue-chip Dow Jones index lost more than 1%, while the technology-rich Nasdaq dropped more than 4%.

London's benchmark FTSE index, which had closed at six-year lows on Monday, lost still more ground on Tuesday, closing 38 points lower at 3,858.

Germany's leading index had a particularly bad day, losing 4.8% while its French counterpart dropped 2.5%.

Bitter lows

Last week's worldwide stock market falls, the culmination of a two-month slump that has wiped up to one-quarter of the value off the world's top companies, came despite some positive corporate news.

On Tuesday, US banks Citigroup and J.P.Morgan were being hard hit over their role in the Enron affair.

And results from AT&T and Amazon.com were also worrying investors.

The latest bear market is now in its ninth week, while the Dow has broken well below its post-11 September trough.

Investors have been getting increasingly nervous about the extent and the length of the downward trend.

Earlier on Tuesday, a glimmer of hope shone through in Asia with leading indexes in both Japan and Hong Kong ending slightly higher.

But analysts are hanging out for proof that the worst of the gloom is over in the US, which sets the direction of stock markets around the world.