European stocks closed sharply lower amid growing fears the euro zone debt crisis will spread out of control and threaten the economic recovery.
In London, the FTSE 100 index closed down 3.14% to 5,262.85 points.
In Paris, the CAC 40 plunged 4.59% to 3,560.36 points and in Frankfurt the DAX tumbled 3.12% to 6,056.71 points.
In Dublin, the ISEQ index of Irish shares closed down 4.3% to 3,081 points. AIB was down 7.9%, while Bank of Ireland finished 4.7% lower.
The Dow Jones dived more than 200 points as fresh concerns over the European debt crisis gripped Wall Street and sent the euro tumbling.
The index slumped 204.74 points to 10,578.21 before recovering a little on profit taking.
The Nasdaq composite lost 57.64 points (2.46%) at 2,336.72 while the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 23.48 points (2.03%) at 1,133.96.
Earlier in Asian trade, Tokyo's Nikkei index closed 158 points (1.5%) lower at 10,462 as concerns that the yen's rise against the euro would hurt exporters' earnings. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong finished down 277 points (1.4%) to 20,145.
