GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks worldwide, oil fall as crisis fears widen

* Stocks plunge as European bank actions stir new fears

* Yen soars worldwide, dollar at 2-1/2-year trough vs yen

* Bonds gain on safety bid as global equity markets plunge

* Oil falls below $90 a barrel on slowing demand outlook (Recasts, adds close of European markets)

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Fear gripped investors around the world on Monday, causing them to dump stocks and snap up safe-havens after European leaders were seen doing too little too late to stem a spreading financial crisis that threatens global growth.

European shares posted their worst day on record and the Dow slipped below 10,000 points for the first time since October 2004 as markets reeled on credit jitters and fears of the fallout from a potential global recession, following the emergency rescue of two big European banks and a move by several European governments to guarantee bank deposits.

Stocks slumped throughout Asia and Latin America, with trading halted on both the Brazilian and Russian markets because of steep plunges in stock prices.

"People have decided that markets have no ability to repair themselves and politicians have control of this process," said John Haynes, strategist at Rensburg Sheppard Investment Management in London. "The buyers have stepped away, and the sellers are still there."

Contagion from the credit crisis spread in Europe, gumming up interbank money markets as banks remained reluctant to lend to each other and investors fled to the safety of bonds.

Euro zone government debt prices shot to 6-1/2 month highs and U.S. Treasuries surged amid mounting worries about the impact of the world's deepest financial crisis in 80 years.

Fears of a global slowdown hammered prices for industrial metals, with benchmark copper tumbling almost 8 percent, and aluminum and zinc prices falling by almost 5 percent.

Crude oil prices fell below $90 a barrel to an eight-month low on fears of a global slowdown, before paring losses. Gold futures jumped more than 5 percent and the yen soared across the board amid heavy selling of riskier positions.

Before 1 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 557.61 points, or 5.40 percent, at 9,767.77. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 66.37 points, or 6.04 percent, at 1,032.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 122.65 points, or 6.30 percent, at 1,824.74.

"What we're seeing here is a complete global crisis. We're seeing a complete deleveraging and that is what's taking us down further," said Anthony Conroy, head trader for BNY ConvergEx, an affiliate of the Bank of New York, in New York.

Shares of energy companies were a top drag as crude oil prices slid, with the S&P energy <.GSPE> index down more than 7 percent. Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp fell 2 percent to $76.36, while shares of Chevron Corp tumbled more than 5 percent to $75.43.

Shares of economic bellwethers, including General Electric were also pummeled. Shares of GE, a diversified manufacturer whose businesses include a large finance arm, dropped 3.6 percent to $20.81.

In Europe, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> fell 7.75 percent to close at 1,004.90 points, its biggest percentage fall ever and eclipsing the 6.3 percent fall suffered on Sept. 11, 2001, during the U.S. terrorist attacks.

Banks and commodity shares took most points off the index, with Royal Bank of Scotland -- which suffered a credit rating cut from Standard & Poor's -- sliding 20 percent, Barclays losing 14.7 percent and UBS falling 12.8 percent.

"This is a stampede," said Valerie Plagnol, chief strategist at CM-CIC Securities in Paris.

"It's just in free-fall. The outlook is still very bearish and we are nowhere near the bottom. There is no reason to buy anything at the moment," said Nicole Elliott, a technical analyst with Mizuho Securities in London.

After Ireland offered bank deposit guarantees, four more European governments followed suit, as the region's governments struggled to shield banks and bank depositors and to calm growing fears.

German lender Hypo Real Estate became the latest in a string of banks in Europe that had to be rescued, spooking equity investors and sending the euro skidding to a 13-month low against the dollar.

The troubled Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis was rescued in a deal with France's BNP Paribas .

Although the cost of borrowing overnight funds on international money markets remained close to central banks' targets, thanks to continued liquidity injections, lending was almost nonexistent across all other maturities.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 40/32 to yield 3.45 percent, and the 2-year U.S. Treasury note rose 12/32 to yield 1.39 percent.

"It's a storm of risk aversion, with stocks down hugely and Treasuries being the one safe market that people continue to pour their cash into," said William O'Donnell, head of U.S. interest rate strategy at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut.

The U.S. dollar jumped to a 13-month high against the euro and the yen rallied broadly. Sentiment soured sharply against the euro after leaders of Europe's four biggest economies decided against a coordinated plan at a weekend summit.

"There's a massive demand for U.S. dollars because everybody just wants to be in U.S. dollars," said Steven Butler, director of FX trading at Scotia Capital in Toronto.

The dollar rose against a basket of major currencies, with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> rose 0.65 percent at 81.439.

The euro fell 1.87 percent at $1.3511, and against the yen, the dollar fell 4.31 percent at 100.76.

U.S. light sweet crude oil fell $4.68 to $89.20 a barrel.

Spot gold prices rose $23.60 to $858.40 an ounce.

Asian stocks dropped overnight by about 5 percent and the yen surged to a two-year high against the euro as investors doubted the U.S. and European response to the financial crisis could prevent a deeper slump in the global economy.

Japan's Nikkei share average <.N225> slumped 4.25 percent to mark its lowest close since February 2004. MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> slid 6.6 percent to the lowest since December 2005. (Reporting by Ellis Mnyandu, Chris Reese, Wanfeng Zhou and Frank Tang in New York and Jamie McGeever, Jan Harvey, Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Jane Merriman, Joe Brock and George Matlock in London; Writing by Herbert Lash; Editing by Leslie Adler)