Stocks head south across the globe

LONDON: World stock markets fell yesterday as Japan Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection and investors awaited a raft of fourth-quarter US corporate earnings with a degree of unease following a fairly mixed start to the results season.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 47.77 points, or 0.9 percent, at 5,446.62 while Germany's DAX fell 49.39 points, or 0.8 percent, at 5,869.16. The CAC-40 was 35.12 points, or 0.9 percent, higher at 3,942.34.

Wall Street was poised for a subdued start to the week after being closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King public holiday. Dow futures were down 13 points, or 0.1 percent, at 10,550 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures fell 1.2 point, or 0.1 percent, to 1,131.10.