LONDON - EUROPEAN markets dived again on Monday, with losses of more than five percent in London, Frankfurt and Paris as recession worries echoed around the world, analysts said.

London's FTSE 100 index of top shares plunged 5.62 percent to 3,665.21 points, striking a level last seen on April 1, 2003, after more sharp falls in Asia.

The FTSE later clawed back ground to stand at 3,694.27 points, down 4.87 per cent from Friday?s close.

In Paris on Monday, the CAC 40 stocks index sank by more than six per cent to 2,993.83 points. It later stood 5.58 per cent down at 3,015.50.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 index lost 4.03 per cent to stand at 4,122.15 points in morning deals.

In Asia, Tokyo hit a 26-year low on fears that emergency steps by world governments will be too late to prevent a global recession, analysts said.

Japan's Nikkei index plunged 6.36 per cent by the close, hitting its lowest level since October 1982.

The latest global markets turmoil came despite a pledge by the Group of Seven major economies to cooperate to bring stability to the ailing financial system.

On Friday, London's FTSE index had shed five percent after news that the British economy shrank by 0.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2008 - the first quarterly contraction in 16 years.

The technical definition of a recession is two successive quarters of negative economic growth.