The credit crunch announced by the Fed, followed by other central banks, has prompted investors to ease their equity positions, for fear of a recession on the horizon.
A prospect, however, not rejected by the European Central Bank which in its latest bulletin also highlighted the risks of prolonged inflation.
Wall Street opened lower (Dow Jones -0.25% and Nasdaq - 1.31% at 5pm Italian time) and the European stock exchanges weighed down their performance.
In this climate, Milan lost 1.07% in closing, London 1.08%.
Frankfurt and Paris were the worst, with a decline of around 1 and 85%.
On the bond market, yields on government bonds began to rise again, with our ten-year at 4.18%.
The euro is even weaker, falling to 0.98 and 15 against the dollar and to 0.96 and 35 against the Swiss franc.
Natural gas prices are down, dropping in Amsterdam to 192 euros per megawatt hour.
Brent oil, on the other hand, rose slightly, at 90.45 dollars a barrel.