Wall Street slide continues

Stocks on Wall Street resumed their downward slide after a one-day break, following further selloffs in European and Asian markets.

Investors were unable to shake off worries about Europe's debt woes and the health of the US economy, pushing down banks and energy companies.

After plunging as low as 308 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average pared lossed through the rest of the session to be down 100.13 points, or 0.9%, to 11,140.13 at the close (8am NZ time).

All but two Dow compenents fell, led by Hewlett-Packard's 3.8% tumble. The losses come on top of a 373-point drop in the two previous sessions, including Friday's 2.2% slide on a disappointing monthly jobs report.

The market was closed on Monday for the Labor Day weekend but markets overseas, particularly in Europe, fell sharply. Gold and oil also fell.

The S&P 500 index shed 0.7% to 1165.35, led lower by energy, industrial and financial stocks. All 10 of the S&P 500's sectors dropped.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 0.3% to 2473.83.

Other markets: Europe mixed, Asia down again
Most European stock markets ended lower as a fresh round of sovereign debt fears roiled bank stocks.

Swiss shares soared after the central bank stepped in to halt the franc’s gains. The SMI Index soared 4.4% to 5367.24 after the Swiss National Bank set a minimum exchange rate against the euro.

In London, Whitbread rose 7.3% after reporting a 4.8% rise in second-quarter comparable sales — a solid improvement from the 1.7% growth it achieved in the first quarter. The stock led a 1.1% gain for the FTSE 100 index which ended at 5156.84,

The Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 0.7% to end at 221.98. The losses for banks led a 1.1% drop for the French CAC 40 index, which closed at 2965.64, and a 1% fall for the German DAX 30 index, which ended at 5193.97.

Most markets fell in Asia. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended down 2.2% to 8590.57, its lowest close since April 28, 2009. Korea's Kospi fell 1.1% to 1766.71.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 1.6% to 4075.5, extending losses after the Reserve Bank of Australia's widely expected decision to keep interest rates unchanged.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index made a late recovery to end 0.5% higher at 19,710.50, after trading down as much as 1.7%, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3% to 2470.52.

India's Sensex rose 0.9% to 16,862.81.

Commodities: Oil mixed, gold down
Oil futures declined as worries about the global economic outlook deepened and as equities fell sharply.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery settled down 43USc, or 0.5%, at $US86.02 a barrel in New York.

Brent crude rose following losses on Monday and reports of supply disruptions in the North Sea. The front-month October contract was up $US1.83, or 1.6%, to $US111.91 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

Gold slipped as pressure from a stronger US dollar. The September delivery contract was down $US3.80, or 0.2%, at $US1869.90 an ounce in New York after touching a record $US1911.60 and slumping to $US1842.00 during the session.

Currencies: Swiss move sends franc down
The SNB's unexpected move not allow the euro to fall below 1.20 francs sent the franc tumbling against both the euro and the US dollar.

The euro rocketed 10% to as high as 1.22 against the franc, its strongest since July 5. The move also pushed the euro higher against the dollar.

The euro was at $US1.4011 compared with $US1.4098 late on Monday. The dollar jumped 9% versus the Swiss franc, trading at 0.8616 franc compared to 0.7871 franc.

The dollar was at ¥77.60 from ¥76.90 and the UK pound traded at $1.5955 from $1.6117.