World stock markets lost further ground today as worries about high debt levels in some euro zone countries continued.
On currency markets, the euro fell below $1.36 at one point this afternoon, its lowest level since May last year, as concerns about the ability of some euro zone governments to pay their debts mounted. It had recovered slightly to $1.3628 just before 6pm.
European stock markets, which had already dropped sharply yesterday, suffered further falls, with London's FTSE closing down another 1.5% to 5,060. Paris dropped 3.4% to 3,564, while Frankfurt fell 1.8% to 5,434.
In Dublin, the ISEQ finished down a further 2.1% to 2,890, with banks among the biggest losers. AIB lost 4.8% to €1.09 and Bank of Ireland shed 2.5% to €1.19, but Irish Life & Permanent bucked the trend by finishing the day 2.8% higher at €3.10.
US stock markets were in negative territory at 6pm following a much-awaited jobs report which gave a mixed picture on the labour market. The Dow Jones was down 0.6% to 9,945, extending yesterday's heavy losses, while the Nasdaq dropped just 0.1% to 2,123.
In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei plummeted 2.9% to end at 10,057, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped 3.3% to finish at 19,665.
