US stocks resumed their punishing decline yesterday as fears of global recession pushed markets worldwide to fresh lows. At mid-afternoon in New York, the S&P 500 was down 4.8 per cent at 864.36 points, having sunk as much as 6.1 per cent at one point. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 4.8 per cent off at 8,683.21 points while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 3.9 per cent to 1,541.78 points.

The Chicago Board Op-tions Exchange Volatility Index, known as Wall Street's fear gauge, rocketed as much as 32.1 per cent to 89.53, another record.