Stocks suffered their worst one-day fall in nearly a year on Tuesday as new figures suggested the US might already be in a recession and other leading economies rebuffed US calls for a global economic stimulus package.

The S&P 500 dropped 3.2 per cent, marking its worst day since February 27, and bringing its losses so far this year to nearly 9 per cent – its worst start ever. The Eurofirst 300 index fell 3.15 per cent, while the FTSE 100 index lost 2.63 per cent.