星期二，投资者由于担心欧洲债务危机和南北韩之间的紧张局势可能损害经济，亚洲和欧洲股市大幅下跌，世界石油价格也下跌。
东京、香港和巴黎的主要股指跌幅超过百分之三，美国、德国和英国的股市也下跌接近百分之三。
有关报道是引发股市下跌的部分原因。报导说，在韩国谴责北韩击沉一艘韩国军舰后，北韩领导人金正日命令北韩军队进入高度戒备状态。
南北韩的紧张局势更增添了人们对影响希腊和其他国家的欧洲债务危机问题的担忧。由于国际货币基金组织敦促西班牙对其劳动力市场和银行部门进行紧急改革，人们的担忧于星期一加剧。西班牙官员们刚刚完成接管一家倒闭银行。
Prices fell sharply on Asian and European stock markets Tuesday as investors worried that the European debt crisis and tensions between North and South Korea could hurt the economy. World oil prices also fell.
Major stock indexes in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Paris dropped more than three percent, while U.S., German and British stocks were off nearly as much.
The downturn was partly triggered by reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il had put his military on higher alert after South Korea accused the North of sinking a South Korean ship.
The Korean tensions add to worries about Europe’s debt problems affecting Greece and other nations. Those concerns grew Monday as the International Monetary Fund urged Spain to make urgent reforms of its labor market and banking sector. Spanish officials had just finished taking over a failing bank.