Worries about whether Greece will remain in the European Union after its leaders failed to form a coalition caused shares in Asia to fall sharply.
The Hang Seng dropped nearly 3.2% to 19,264. The Nikkei fell 1.1% to 8,801. The Shanghai Composite was down 1.2% to 2,457.
Most markets in Europe opened off at least 1%. Bank shares were hurt particularly on concerns that their sovereign debt holdings may have to be written down in some cases. Gold and oil were both off on belief that the global economy could falter.
While data from the EU yesterday showed that the region was not in recession in the first quarter, this was largely because of an improvement of 0.5% in Germany. Figures for Greece, Spain and Portugal showed contraction, and France was no better than flat in GDP movement over the last month of 2011.
Douglas A. McIntyre
Sponsored: Find a Qualified Financial Advisor
Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to 3 fiduciary financial advisors in your area in 5 minutes. Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests. If you’re ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Editors' Picks
