FRANKFURT, Oct 9, 2008 (AFP) - At the Frankfurt stock exchange, silent traders frowned as they watched shares pitch lower in a sign of how bad the international financial crisis has gotten.

The only sound came from large clicking boards that display movements on the German market.

'We are in the eye of the storm,' said Dirk Mueller, a broker at MWB Fair Trade known in Germany as 'Mr. Dax' in reference to the blue-chip stock index.

Behind Mueller, the Dax graphic shows the market's steady path downwards, below 5,000 points on Wednesday for the first time since late September 2005.

'I'm in shock,' said Robert Halver, a strategist at Baader Bank.

Mueller said that 'the drop has no limits. Why would anyone buy stocks now? Everyone is losing.'

Television crews and photographers crowd around the well-known figure, his pin-striped suit, graying hair and blue eyes destined for more exposure on TV screens and in newspapers.

It is the only real movement on a trading floor where all transactions pass through computers.

From behind his screen, a trader repeats out loud a list of numbers and says to himself: 'That's how you're going to make money,' as he types on a keyboard.

A few seconds later come complaints however, and then he says: 'This is nonsense.'

Mueller explains that 'all day long the rates swing back and forth.'

'No one wants to invest, everyone wants to sell what they have.'

Brokers serve as intermediaries between buyers and sellers and 'clients usually ask us to find the best prices,' said Oliver Roth of the Close Brothers Seydler brokerage.

'Now they want to sell at any price, do your best and that's all. Everyone is afraid now,' he said.

'The Americans have provoked the stock market losses. They need every last dollar. So even in Germany they are selling their stocks. And funds and private investors hop on board.'

Everyone is under pressure, Mr Dax said. 'The financial crisis runs 24 hours a day for us. We sleep a few hours, look at our Blackberry before going to bed, and again when we wake. We are worried about our future too,' he said, his eyes showing the strain.

Early in the afternoon, major central banks announced a concerted interest rate cut to help fight the crisis.

The Chinese central bank said it would also cut interest rates on one-year loans.

The Dax briefly perks up, but then heads lower again.

'It's an important step,' said Halver of Baader Bank later by phone.

But not enough according to the stock brokers, who have become strong supporters of public intervention in the market place.

'The central banks should lower their rates even more, and the state should provide money right away as soon as there is a problem. We have lost too much time,' Halver said.

On the big board, the Dax kept falling, to levels that are now one-third below where they were at the beginning of the year.