Sunday, 20 April 2025
Greece’s debt crisis sends stocks falling around the globe

Greece’s debt crisis sends stocks falling around the globe

Global markets shuddered on Monday after Greece closed its banks amid fears that the country was headed toward default.

Stocks slumped on Wall Street, after markets in Europe were buffeted by worries that the Greek debt crisis would prove contagious and Chinese investors endured another topsy-turvy session.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 2 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was down 2.1 percent, and the Nasdaq fell 2.4 percent. The losses wiped out all the gains for the Dow and S.&P. 500 indexes this year.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index, comprising the eurozone’s big blue chip companies, closed 4.2 percent lower, after being down about 5 percent at the opening. The FTSE 100 index in London fell 2 percent.

In Greece, banks and markets will be closed for the week, after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras interrupted last-ditch debt negotiations early Saturday with the announcement that he was calling a referendum for July 5 on whether to accept the tough terms offered by international creditors.