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LONDON shares have nosedived for the FIFTH day in a row - with the FTSE 100 losing more than �50billion in 90 MINUTES. In chaotic scenes the stock market plunged after mammoth falls on Wall Street in the US overnight. By 9.30 the FTSE 100 was down an incredible 222.91 at 4846.04. The falls were matched by alarming slumps in France and Germany. World stocks are down an astonishing 20 PER CENT since May. It comes despite the European Central Bank buying up Italian and Spanish bonds. Analysts believe hedge funds are dumping equities to buy the bonds so they can sell them on to the ECB. Michael McCarthy, chief strategist at CMC MARKETS, said: "We're clearly in fear territory. "The major driver here seems to be weakness in the US economy. "There are fears it's going to stall and, if that's the case, the whole global growth scenario could fall over." Separately, grim official figures showed our trade gap with the rest of the world widened in June as exports FELL for the first time since April.