SINGAPORE- Singapore shares were down 4.82 percent at midday Friday on fears of a global recession hurting corporate earnings, dealers said.

The main Straits Times Index plunged 84.14 points to 1,661.53.

"With investors now gripped by fears of a severe global recession, our earlier hopes that Asian markets may go through a period of consolidation, following the significant declines of the past two weeks, have been dashed," an analyst from Daiwa was quoted as saying by Dow Jones Newswires.