Greek vote on bailout hammers stocks
US stocks tumbled on Tuesday after investors were blindsided by a surprise call for a Greek referendum on an EU bailout plan, casting doubt on the sustainability of the recent market rally.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 297.05 points, or 2.48 percent, at 11,657.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 35.02 points, or 2.79 percent, at 1,218.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 77.45 points, or 2.89 percent, at 2,606.96.
European shares gave back a hefty slice of October's gain and recorded their biggest one day loss in over a month as shock Greek plans for a referendum on its euro zone bailout package sparked heavy selling across all sectors.
Euro zone banks and insurers led the retreat, with declines of 8.8 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively, but no sector was immune and the FTSEurofirst 300 was down 3.4 percent at the close.
In Asia, the Nikkei average lost 1.7 percent today to end at 8,835.52, slipping further from yesterday' three-month intraday high of 9,152.39 hit just after Tokyo stepped into the currency market. The broader Topix index dropped 1.3 percent to 754.50.
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