LONDON (AP) — The latest on the turmoil global financial markets (all times local):

10:30 a.m.

French bank Societe Generale isn't the only bank facing a hammering in stock markets.

The biggest fallers on the Stoxx 600 index of European shares are Greece's Eurobank Ergasias and Alpha Bank, whose stocks have tanked 23 percent and 16 percent, respectively.

Other notable fallers are Italy's Banca Monte del Paschi, which is down 9 percent and Credit Suisse, which has fallen 8 percent.

Banks, particularly Europe, have come under pressure over recent days as investors fret about their ability to cope with a bigger than expected global slowdown at a time when many still have sizeable bad loans on their books.

The Stoxx 600 is down 3.2 percent at 305.2.

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10:15 a.m.

Shares in Societe Generale are being hit hard after the French bank warned it would not achieve a targeted increase in profitability this year.

The bank said it was abandoning a long-held financial target of achieving a 10 percent return on equity by the end of 2016.

Societe Generale shares are down 13 percent at 27.26 euros in Paris.

Many European banks are seeing their shares slide as investors worry about their ability to withstand a bigger than anticipated global economic slowdown.

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9:50 a.m.

Stocks and oil may be getting the most attention in global markets, but there are big moves elsewhere, too — notably the Japanese yen.

The currency has spiked sharply higher in the past couple of weeks due to its status as a safe haven investment in times of trouble.

On Thursday, the dollar was down a further 1.7 percent at 111.42 yen. At the end of January, it was almost 10 yen higher. For major currencies, that's a big move.

Lee Hardman, currency strategist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, says the yen's rise is fuelling speculation that the Japanese authorities could intervene directly to dampen volatility. That could involve the Bank of Japan buying dollars and selling yen.

For Japan's economic policymakers, the higher yen is problematic as it makes Japanese exports more expensive internationally. It also reduces the cost of imports, keeping a lid on inflation, which Japan has been desperately trying to foster for years.

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9:15 a.m.

Stock markets in Europe have opened sharply lower, dashing any hopes that the modest rally in the previous session marked a turning point.

Following hot on the heels of broad-based declines in Asia, the Stoxx 600 index of European shares was down 3.7 percent at 303.7. Among the major indexes in Europe, France's CAC-40 is 3.2 percent lower while Germany's DAX is down 2.8 percent.

One of the biggest index fallers is Italy's FTSE MIB, which is trading 3.8 percent lower — concerns over Italy have mounted in recent days largely as a result of the scale of bad loans in the country's banks.

Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, says the weakness in the markets stems from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen "warning on current financial market turbulence and suggesting further rate hikes could be delayed, which added to already raised anxiety about the health of the global economy to hold back risk sentiment."