PARIS — World stock markets swooned again today as investors worried that asset prices had yet to hit rock bottom.

At midday, Paris' benchmark CAC-40 index was down 0.5 percent to 4,150.24, Germany's DAX 30 index of blue chips was down 1.04 percent at 6,000.91 and the FTSE-100 share index was 1.3 percent lower at 5,135.90 in London.

Financial stocks across Europe took a pounding for the second day running as news of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and credit downgrades of American International Group, the world's largest insurer, stoked investor fears of wider financial and economic damage.

"My guess is that we haven't seen the bottom," said Tony Dolphin, director of economics and asset allocation at Henderson Global Investors in London. The markets "don't feel as panicky as yesterday," Dolphin said, but concerns remain about the crisis extending its reach from the financial sector to the wider economy.

In France, banks and insurers posted some of the steepest stock losses. Natixis lost 7.4 percent and Credit Agricole was down 4.4 percent, while BNP Paribas was 2.14 percent lower and insurer Axa dropped 1.55 percent.

The situation was similar in Germany, where Commerzbank fell 6.35 percent and Deutsche Postbank dropped 4.65 percent.

European central banks pumped billions more in short-term credit into the financial system for a second day to shore up confidence in the aftermath of Lehman Brothers Holding's bankruptcy in the United States.

Asian stock markets plummeted Tuesday, playing catch-up with other markets around the world after a holiday Monday kept Tokyo and Hong Kong markets closed on the day Wall Street's landscape was dramatically changed.

"Today was a bloodbath," said Alex Tang, head of research at Core Pacific-Yamaichi, who noted that trading volume was its highest in months. "This was panic selling ... They are dumping shares, they just want to liquidate their positions."