European stock markets suffered sharp losses on renewed concerns for Greek finances, with the London FTSE giving up 1.51% to close at 5,100.23 points.
In Paris, the CAC fell 2.37% to 3,555.36 points, while in Frankfurt the DAX tumbled 1.44% to 6,115.48 points.
In Dublin, the ISEQ index of Irish shares fared somewhat better that its European counterparts, slipping 25 points (0.8%) to close at 2,977 points.
Bank shares were in negative territory however, with Bank of Ireland falling 3.6% to 0.72, while AIB fell 1.4% to €0.98.
In New York, the Dow Jones was down 0.7% to 10,224 by 5.15pm. The Nasdaq had fallen 0.9% to 2,234 by the same time.
Earlier, the Nikkei index inched five points higher to close at 9,928 while the Hang Seng index lost 123 points (0.6%) to end at 20,734 after that mixed US data.
