World markets sold off Friday, CNNMoney reported, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average index had its worst point loss since the 2008 financial crisis.

“It seems that yesterday was the day that markets finally woke up to the very real prospects of another imminent and major financial crisis,” said Deutsche Bank analysts Jim Reid and Colin Tan, in a research note.

The Dow tumbled 512 points on Thursday, its ninth deepest point drop ever, as fear about the global economy spooked investors. The selling spilled into overseas markets early today.

Japan’s Nikkei closed down 3.72 percent, and Australia’s All Ordinaries slid more than 4 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell more than 4 percent in afternoon trading; China’s Shanghai Composite was less than 2 percent lower.

European stocks initially plunged, but managed to ease those losses somewhat as the session wore on. The FTSE 100 tumbled 2.1 percent, Germany’s DAX lost 2.2 percent and France’s CAC 40 fell 1.3 percent.