Stock markets around the world plummeted on Monday, following the U.S., where a leading index fell more than 4 percent last week following increased concern that the U.S. will head for a recession.

While stock markets in the U.S. were closed on Monday, investors took a cue from its poor performance last week. Investors in the U.S., have been faced with a deluge of slowing economic indicators, as politicians and officials present assessments and solutions.

On Friday U.S. President George W. Bush proposed guidelines for an economic package of tax breaks to boost business investment and consumer spending in the short term. Lawmakers expect the package to be approved in March. Investors were not persuaded, sending the indexes lower on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 leading American companies fell 4 percent last week to 12099.30.

On Monday, the FTSEurofirst 300 Index, which measures Europe's 300 largest companies by market capitalization fell 4.5 percent to 1,297.07 at 10:22 EST.

The FTSE 100 measuring British companies fell 4.06 percent to to 5,660.60. France's CAC 40 Index was down 5.7 percent to 4,801.34. Germany's DAX index fell 6.10 percent to 6,867.94.

The fall in Asian markets was led by India's Bombay Stock Exchange, with its Sensex Index down 7.41 percent to 17,605.35. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 5.49 percent to 23818.86 percent while China's Shanghai composite fell 5.14 percent to 4914.43. Japan's Nikkei Average of 225 top firms was down 3.86 percent to close at 13325.94.

George W. Bush Bombay Stock Exchange Investment