World stocks fell last Thursday, as the drumbeat of ugly corporate earnings undermined optimism over government stimulus measures and widely expected interest rate decision failed to make a mark.

The European Central bank left its bench mark refinancing rate at 2 percent, halting its recent campaign of rate cuts. The Bank of England, however, lowered its rates to a record 1 percent after official figures recently confirmed that Britain is experiencing its worst recession since the early 1980’s.

Sharp losses at Deutsche Bank, Swiss Re and a weak statement from consumer goods giant Unilever followed similarly grim reports from technology bellwether Cisco systems Inc. and China’s Lenovo Group causing the S&P 500, FTSE 100, Dow, CAC and  Kospi to slide lower.

“Ongoing economic deceleration will likely prompt Bank of England to ease monetary policy further”, said Mitul Kotecha, an analyst at Calyon in London. This could prompt the Central bank to focus more on unconventional measures to support the economy such as buying corporate bonds and commercial papers to ease the credit conditions.