American stock futures trading was halted on Friday morning following deep declines on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor's 500 indices as global stock markets plunged.


Futures contracts fell more than 6% triggering a "limit down" suspension of selling on either index, as S&P 500 futures sank to 855.20, according to Bloomberg News. Nasdaq futures were also halted.


All three contracts lost the maximum amount permissible before the start of futures trading in the United States.


"We are in a panic mode, I don't know how else to describe it and when you're in panic mode, all rational thought goes out of the window," said City Index chief market strategist Tom Hougaard. "We've just got to let this thing rage. I think we'll see the Dow below 8,000 today."


Normal trading will resume when both exchanges open at 9:30 a.m. EST, however, if the Dow falls below 1,100 points before 2 p.m. EST, the benchmark index will suspend trading, Bloomberg reported.


A plunge of that scale would prompt a one-hour halt. If stocks fall to that level between 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. trades would be stopped for 30 minutes. If the index dips 1,100 points after 2:30 p.m. EST, there would be no halt.


The decline on futures contracts come as global stock markets reeled on more negative corporate earnings and recession concerns.


In Europe, the FTSE 100 in London slid as much as 8.1% after a report showed the U.K.'s economy shrank last quarter for the first time since 1992. The German DAX was off more than 8% after vehicle-maker Daimler lower third-quarter earnings and discarded its revenue and profit guidance for 2008.


In Japan, the Nekkei plunged more than 800 points or 10.6% after Sony slashed its earnings forecast for the year.


The benchmark MSCI World Index of global stocks fell as low as 4.3%. overnight.

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