European stocks dropped this evening in turbulent trading after ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Spain's credit rating amid fears that the Greek debt crisis is spreading.
London's FTSE index lost 17 points (0.3%) to end at 5,587, while the Paris CAC dropped 58 points (1.5%) to end at 3,787 and the Frankfurt DAX was down 75 points (1.2%) to close at 6,084.
Dublin's ISEQ index slumped 84 points (2.5%) to close at 3,257 after the Spanish downgrade with the banking shares all lower.
Shares in Bank of Ireland finished 2.5% lower at €1.67, while Irish Life and Permanent lost 2.6% to close at €2.97. Shares in AIB were down 0.7% to €1.44 after the bank told shareholders today that its performance so far this year was 'broadly in line with expectations' in what continued to be very tough conditions.
US stock markets were steady after yesterday's steep losses with the Dow Jones again passing the 11,000 point mark. The Dow climbed 37 points (0.34%) to stand at 11,029 this evening, while the Nasdaq fell five points (0.2%) to 2,466.
Earlier, Tokyo's Nikkei index slumped 288 points (2.57%) lower to close at 10,925 as concerns about the euro zone debt crisis intensified. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 312 points (1.5%) to end at 20,949.
