Stock markets in Europe and the United States have fallen sharply
in response to further signs that the debt crisis in Greece is intensifying
and could spread to other countries.
Share prices in New York, London, Frankfurt and Paris
fell by more than 2% after a major international credit rating agency
Standard & Poor's downgraded Greek debt
to a level known informally as junk.
Nils Blythe has more.
Standard & Poor's downgraded its assessment
of Greek bonds to the so-called junk status
because of the growing danger
that the bond holders will not be paid back in full.
Many big investment funds have rules
that forbid them from holding junk bonds,
says the move is likely to trigger a further round of selling.
Share markets have taken fright,
fearing that if Greece does default on its debts,
it would hit many European banks which hold Greek bonds
and could trigger a wider financial crisis.
Already pressure is mounting on Portugal
which has also seen its credit rating downgraded today,
although it remains above junk status.