Bruised stock markets brace for volatile week

NEW YORK (AFP) - Stock markets are bracing for fresh upheavals in the week ahead as they seek to staunch a severe blood-letting triggered by the global credit crunch.

"It's still [going to] be a very volatile week and moving around quite a bit," cautioned Marc Pado, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald.

"The focus is still on: is there some institution that's [going to] fall? Is a hedge fund [going to] collapse?" he asked.

The credit fears, brought on by the crisis in the risky US subprime loan market, have played havoc with Wall Street stock portfolios in the past two weeks and dragged down world markets.

Unable to determine the extent of the crisis or how exposed US financial institutions are, investors have fled, seeking to cut their losses by off-loading risky stocks.