Slumping world sharemarkets sent the key Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging on Wall Street, but late session bargain hunters pulled it back above the 10,000 mark.At one point, the Dow was down 290 points as concerns about the health of European banks a
Slumping world sharemarkets sent the key Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging on Wall Street, but late session bargain hunters pulled it back above the 10,000 mark.
At one point, the Dow was down 290 points as concerns about the health of European banks and rising tensions on the Korean peninsula were at their peak.
However, the late buying was boosted by US consumer data that signalled a healthier domestic economic outlook.
The Dow closed 22.67 points, or 0.2%, down at 10,043.90.
The Nasdaq Composite finished 0.1% lower at 2210.95, while the S&P 500 recouped all its losses to finish near even at 1074.11. Earlier, it briefly slipped below 1044.50, which had previously been its intraday low for the year.
Other markets: Europe, Asia down
European markets slumped as concerns over rising interbank lending rates mounted.
Fears are also high that Spain will be the next high profile victim of the European sovereign debt crisis.
The three-month dollar London interbank offered rate, Libor, rose to its highest level since July 2009.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 Index fell 2.5% to 232.11, its lowest close since September 3, 2009, and its fourth loss in the last five sessions.
The UK's FTSE 100 dropped 2.5% to 4940.68, Germany's DAX closed down 2.3% at 5670.04 and France's CAC-40 finished 2.9% lower at 3331.29.
The Athens Stock Exchange traded at fresh one-year lows and ended down 3.5%.
Asian stock markets tumbled, with South Korean shares taking a beating on rising tensions with the North.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropped 3.1% to 9459.89, its lowest finish since November 30, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 3.5% to 18985.50, its weakest close since July.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 3% to 4265.34, Taiwan's Taiex shed 3.2% to 7086.37 and China's Shanghai Composite gave up 1.9%.
India's Sensex declined 2.7% to 16,022.48, Indonesia's JSX tumbled 3.7% to 2514.12, Thailand's SET Index gave up 3.1% to 721.29, and Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 2.7% to 2650.61.
Korea's Kospi dropped as much as 4.5% at one point, after the Yonhap news agency reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il had ordered the military to be ready for combat.
Since then, North Korea has announced it is formally cutting all ties with the South.
Commodities: Oil down, gold up
Crude-oil futures pared early losses after falling below $68 a barrel amid weak equities and a stronger U.S. dollar.
Light, sweet crude oil for July delivery in New York was down $US1.63, or 2.3%, at $US68.58 a barrel, trimming some losses after sliding more than 3% to $67.59 in early action.
ICE North Sea Brent for July was down $US1.83 at $US69.34.
Gold futures edged back above the $1,200-per-ounce level for the first time since May 19 as the metal avoided a commodity-wide selloff.
In recent trade, gold for June delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $4.40, or 0.4%, to $1,198.40 an ounce. It hit a peak of $1,200.40.
Currencies: Euro down; dollar, yen up
The dollar and yen gained sharply as financial markets were in turmoil. The euro fell to its lowest level against the yen since October 2001 and overnight came within striking distance of a fresh four-year low against the dollar.
But the euro recouped some of its losses on the back of better-than-expected US consumer data.
The Conference Board's consumer-confidence index rose for the third consecutive month, to 63.3 in May from 57.7 in April, while economists had expected a reading of 58.5.
The data took some of the edge off nervous markets, leading to the euro paring some of its losses, though it remained down nearly 0.9% against the dollar.
The euro was at $US1.2258 from $US1.2380 late on Monday. The dollar was at ¥89.81 from ¥90.39, while the euro was at ¥110.11 from ¥111.90. The UK pound was at $US1.4332 from $US1.4433.
