Euro banking sector worries add to market turbulence

MOST international stock markets were down yesterday, on rising concern over the state of the European banking sector and the future health prospects for the global economy.

Early trading in the US saw sell-offs as investors begin to worry that the debt crisis in the eurozone could spread to the financial sector in the US.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones was down by nearly 4% in early trading — a result also driven by continuing weak domestic economic data — while the technology stock-driven Nasdaq had shed 4.3% of value after early trades. Yesterday morning saw Tokyo’s Nikkei close with another decline — this time by 1.3% to 8,944 points; while Asia’s other powerhouse, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong, closed down 1.3% at just over 20,000 points.