World equities took a bruising beating anew today, bit by a glaring risk-aversion sentiment and a crash in the banking sector as investors fret about mounting loans and doubt the ability of the banks to pay back their dues. Compounding the picture in Europe, worries returned that Portugal and Greece wouldn't be able to stick to their bailout plans, affecting sentiment further.

The pan-European index FTSEurofirst 300 tanked about three percent to its lowest since September 2013 at 1,200. Germany's DAX index gave up 186 points, or 2.04% to trade at 8,836. France's CAC 40 index plummeted 120 points, or nearly three percent to 3,945. Britain's resource-rich FTSE100 index outperformed the wider European market, but remained down 1.50% at 5,586.

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. unit versus six major rivals, hit a new four-month low at 95.40, before paring losses to trade last at 95.70, down 0.13% on the day. The greenback recovered half of its losses today against the yen but still recorded a massive 0.77% loss at 112.47. Euro touched a four-month high against its American rival at 1.1362.

Investors stampeded to safe havens from all kinds, with gold futures surging four percent, or 45 dollars to a year high, before last trading at $1,233 an ounce. Silver futures jumped 32 cents, or 2.11% to trade at $15.55 an ounce.

Wall Street opened sharply lower in tandem with its European counterparts, with Dow Jones falling 150 points, or 0.90% to 15,773. NASDAQ Composite shed 18 points, or half a percent to trade at 4,246, while S&P 500 declined 17 points, or 0.84% to 1,836.