The European central bank’s decision to cut key interest rates on Wednesday helped limit losses in Amsterdam. The AEX fell by as much as 8% to well under 300 points in early trading but by afternoon, share prices had recovered somewhat.

At 4pm, the blue chip AEX was down 2.6% at 301 points.
The start of trading was delayed by 15 minutes because shares in Fortis remained suspended despite reports on Tuesday afternoon that trading in the troubled financial services group would be resumed.
Trading in Fortis was suspended on Monday after most of the group was either taken over or nationalised.