THE Dow Jones Industrial Average fell today as the impact of fatal demonstrations in Greece reverberated across world markets.
The Dow was down 59.94 points (0.55 per cent) recouping some earlier losses to stand at 10,866.83 in closing trades.
The Nasdaq composite was down 21.96 points (0.91 per cent) to 2402.29 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 7.72 points (0.66 per cent) to 1165.88.
Images of riots in Athens, which killed at least three people, were beamed into the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange, fuelling concerns about a wider eurozone debt crisis.
"The fixation on the European situation is unmistakable, as an encouraging employment report from ADP Employment Services passed without any buying interest," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.
Earlier, payrolls firm ADP said the US economy created 32,000 private sector jobs in April, better than market expectations.
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But the positive figures were not enough to calm concerns about the eurozone that were exacerbated by the Greek riots and a warning from ratings agency Moody's that it could downgrade Portugal's sovereign debt within three months.
Moody's said it had placed Portugal Aa2 government bond rating "on review for possible downgrade" and warned it could be cut by up to two notches because of worsening public finances and weak growth.
Eurozone fears kept the community's single currency below the $US1.30, after it hit 12-month lows yesterday amid fears that Greece's debt crisis would spread to other struggling EU economies.
Yesterday, the Dow fell over 200 points, closing down two per cent, on fears that Spain could see its debt rating downgraded again, forcing it to follow Greece to the IMF and European nation in search of its own bailout loan.
Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero dismissed the rumours, as did the IMF, but the fears were enough to knock Spanish stocks down five per cent, creating losses across global markets.
Dow suffers heavy losses amid Greek riotsDebt crisis fuels clash of cultures in Europe
