LONDON — World stocks tumbled today amid fears the fallout from Dubai's problems repaying $60 billion in debt would derail the global financial and economic recovery.

Sentiment among investors has been hit hard by Wednesday's news that Dubai World, a government investment company, has asked creditors if it can postpone its forthcoming payments until May. That has stoked fears of a potential default and contagion around the global financial system, particularly in emerging markets.

Asian stocks were particularly badly hit as they played catch-up following big losses in Europe in the previous session — the main indexes in Hong Kong and South Korea slumped nearly 5 percent.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 16.13 points, or 0.3 percent, at 5,178, while Germany's DAX fell 19.45 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5,594.72. The CAC-40 in France was 23.27 points, or 0.6 percent, lower at 3,655.976.

On Thursday, Europe's main indexes slid more than 3 percent, with banks, especially those thought to have exposure to Dubai such as Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered, particularly badly hit.

Wall Street, which was closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, is set for a heavy bout of selling.