STORY: European shares slid on Friday (September 16), hit by growing fears of recession.

Germany’s Dax index was down over 1.3% by late morning, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 off around 1%.

The falls came after two big warnings.

Late the day before the World Bank cautioned of a global recession as central banks raise rates to battle inflation.

The International Monetary Fund said it too expected a slowdown.

Other news added to the jitters on Friday.

Post and logistics firms tumbled after U.S. peer FedEx withdrew its forecast and warned of waning global demand.

Deutsche Post fell around 5%, while Britain’s Royal Mail was down as much as 12%.

In the UK, retail sales numbers fell far more than expected in August, adding to recession bets there.

Earlier in the day, Chinese data actually beat forecasts though.

Factory output and retail sales both did better than expected in August.

But shares still slid, as other data pointed to a deepening crisis in the country’s property market.

The Shanghai Composite index ended the day more than 2% lower.