Global benchmark index drop confirms bear market

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock indexes worldwide stumbled on Thursday on fears over the health of the global economy, with a global equity benchmark index closing the day more than 20 percent below its record high last May, confirming global stocks are in a bear market.

MSCI's all-country world equity index , which tracks shares in 45 nations, was last down 4.73 points, or 1.32 percent, to 353.35. The index hit its lowest level in more than two and a half years and was down 20.18 percent from an all-time high close of 442.70 on May 21, 2015.

(Additional reporting by Clara Denina, Simon Falush Kit Rees and Alistair Smout in London, Dion Rabouin, Tariro Mzezewa in New York, and Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernadette Baum)