* Wall Street plunges at open
* Index of global stocks tumbles to 5-year low
* European stocks down more than 6 pct, Japan down 9.6 pct
* Dollar and yen soar in risk flight, talk of intervention
* Oil falls to $62.65 per barrel despite OPEC output cut
(Adds more details of U.S. trade, quotes)
By Burton Frierson
NEW YORK, Oct 24 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks plummeted on
Friday, continuing a global collapse in equities as investors
fearing a long and deep worldwide recession cashed out of risky
assets.
Rates on major currencies gyrated wildly amid the frenzied
stocks rout, sending the dollar and yen to multi-year highs
against the euro and sterling as investors brought investments
home in search of shelter.
Sterling suffered its biggest one-day drop against the
dollar since September 1992 following news that Britain's
economy contracted in the third quarter for the first time in
16 years.
Data also showed the euro zone's private sector economy
shrunk this month at its fastest pace since the monetary
union.
Oil tumbled as far as $62.65 a barrel <CLc1> on
expectations the economic downturn would sap fuel demand,
taking the steam out of an OPEC agreement to cut output. Gold
also fell, while U.S. government bonds surged as investors
piled into this traditional safe haven.
"This has become much more global than it was two weeks
ago. No one or no market is immune," said Robert Macintosh,
chief economist at Eaton Vance Corp in Boston.
"People are running to safety," he said. "It is interesting
how the dollar has been bashed for years and that is the
currency that everybody wants to own."
Bellwether IBM Inc <IBM.N> was the biggest drag on the Dow,
falling 4.5 percent to $80.52.
Energy companies also tumbled, dragged down by the more
than $3 drop in the price of oil. The S&P energy index was down
5.1 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was down 322.89
points, or 3.72 percent, at 8,368.36. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> was down 35.63 points, or 3.92 percent, at 872.48.
The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was down 58.05 points, or
3.62 percent, at 1,545.86.
Still, the U.S. losses did not quite live up to investors'
worst fears, though the recent turmoil has certainly lowered
the bar for a "good day" on Wall Street.
"I would say today, if we can close the day with the market
down say 3 percent or less, we will have had a very good day,"
said Peter Jankovskis, a chief investment officer at Oakbrook
Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois.
World stocks, measured by MSCI's all-country world index
<.MIWD00000PUS>, fell 5.18 percent and hit five-year lows
during the session. Investors dumped emerging market stocks
with particular vigor, pushing them down 7.54 percent
<.MSCIEF>.
European shares were down 6.34 percent and Japan's Nikkei
<> tumbled almost 10 percent.
ROCK-SOLID, ROCK-BOTTOM
Japan's huge external surpluses and already rock-bottom
interest rates led the yen to outperform, with the dollar/yen
<JPY=> exchange rate losing about 7 percent at one point to a
13-year low of 90.90 yen.
The disorderly nature of the moves fueled speculation about
Group of Seven central bank intervention to stabilize markets.
"The scale of the recent currency moves will most likely
rekindle intervention talks," said Audrey Childe-Freeman,
currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in London. "The
question here is: have recent moves been excessive? The answer
is yes."
However, the dollar, the victim in markets in recent years,
continued to benefit against other currencies from investors
repatriating savings back to the U.S.
The dollar was up against a basket of major trading-partner
currencies, with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> up 1.19 percent
at 85.786 from a previous session close of 84.775.
The euro <EUR=> was down 1.04 percent at $1.2718 from a
previous session close of $1.2852. Against the Japanese yen,
the dollar <JPY=> was down 5.01 percent at 92.96 from a
previous session close of 97.860.
As is often the case, government bonds were big
beneficiaries of the stocks sell-off.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was up
14/32, pushing the yield down to 3.6348 percent. Euro zone
government bond futures also rallied <FGBLc1>.
(Additional Reporting by Chris Reese; Editing by Leslie
Adler)
