U.S. stock market indexes were down sharply in Tuesday's trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than two percent (277 points) to end at 12,501. The S&P 500 plunged 2.5 percent (35 points) to finish at 1,381 and the NASDAQ fell 2.5 percent (61 points) to hit 2,418.
European stock prices were sharply lower at the close of trading. London's Financial Times index plunged more than three percent (190 points) to end at 6,026. The CAC-40 in Paris lost almost three percent (153 points) to hit 5,251 while the DAX index in Frankfurt dropped more than two percent (166 points) to reach 7,566.
Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei Index fell one percent (138 points) to finish at 13,973. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped more than two percent (630 points) to close at 25,838.
The price of gold fell nearly $13, trading at $891.30 per ounce.
The dollar was lower against the yen but made gains compared to the euro.
Some information for this report was provided by Bloomberg.
