Greek turmoil sends stocks tumbling

Stocks on Wall Street and in Europe fell as political turmoil in Greece renewed fears of a euro zone default.

The broad measure on Wall Street, the S&P 500 index, fell to a two-month low during the session despite a rise in US small-business confidence.

The National Federation of Independent Business's small-business optimism index rose in April, boosted by strength in the net earnings and new jobs sub-indexes. It was the highest reading since December 2007.

At the close (8am NZ time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 76.44 points, or 0.6%, to 12,932.09, extending its slide to a fifth straight day.

The S&P index, which was down more than 1% during the session, finished down 0.4% to 1363.72, falling for the fourth day in five.

The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.4% to 2946.27, after touching its lowest intraday level since February.

Other markets: Europe falls, Asia mixed
A sharp drop in European markets sent the Greek stock index to its lowest finish in nearly two decades.

In Athens, New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said it was impossible to form a coalition government, opening a door for the second-biggest party, the Coalition of the Radical Left, which has vowed to renegotiate the country's bailout conditions.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index sank 1.7% to 250.58. Greece's ASE Composite Index closed at its lowest level since November 1992, dropping 3.6%, to 620.54. It fell 6.7% on Monday.

The German DAX index lost 1.9% to 6444.74 and France's CAC-40 index lost 2.8% to 3124.80.

The UK's FTSE 100 index fell 1.8% to 5554.55 and turned negative for the year.

British markets had been closed on Monday for a holiday.

Asian markets were mixed after Monday's sharp losses, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.7% to 9181.65.

Going in the opposite direction, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.3% to 20484.75 and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.1% to 2448.88.

Korea's Kospi climbed 0.5% to 1967.01, Singapore's Straits Times Index advanced 0.2% to 2931.98 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.3% to 4314.3.

Commodities: Oil, gold down
Oil futures slid for a fifth straight session as instability continued in the eurozone.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell 93USc, or 0.9%, to settle at $US97.01 in New York, after rebounding from a session low of $US95.52. Prices are down 8.6% since May 1 and at their lowest levels since December 19.

A wave of selling hit the gold market, pushing prices briefly below the $US1600 mark and to their lowest settlement price in four months.

Gold for May delivery fell $US34.60, or 2.1%, to settle at $US1604 an ounce in New York, the lowest ending price since January 3.

Currencies: Euro falls
Political turmoil in Greece, and lower prices for shares and commodities, dragged down the euro and other higher-yielding currencies.

The euro tumbled below the $US1.30 level against the US dollar in earlier trading. It later pared some losses to trade at $US1.3012 from $US1.305 late on Monday.

The dollar was at ¥79.84 from ¥79.89 late on Monday, while the euro changed hands at ¥103.89 from ¥104.29.

The UK pound traded at $US1.6157 compared with $US1.6189. The dollar fetched 0.9230 Swiss franc from 0.9206 franc.