Stock markets have been hit by a double whammy – the price of crude spurted six dollars and the US jobless figures which were disappointing to say the least.

All major European exchanges closed down, extending their losses in afternoon trading. London was 1.4 per cent off, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan and Madrid all shed two or more per centage points, hitting their lowest level for six weeks.

The euro got even stronger against the dollar at almost 1.57 and a half. il sensitive airline shares were hit – so was BMW, the world’s biggest luxury car maker. Crude hovered around 134 dollars a barrel, a rise of 12 dollars in just 24 hours.

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