EU crisis talks start, markets fall

The threat of the crisis spreading from Europe to the world shook global markets on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.

European stock markets fell about two percent amid anxiety that Greece might have to leave the euro. The euro fell to a 21-month low against the dollar and oil prices dropped to their lowest this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 60 points to 12,443 in late afternoon, and stayed down for most of the day. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 20.49 points, or 0.72 percent, at 2,818.59. The FTSE Eurofirst index of top European shares finished 2.18 percent down at 971.99 after it once hit a fresh year low at 970.98.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index closed down two percent at 8,556.60.

In Brussels, leaders of 27 EU countries met to find ways to contain the crisis, and prepare contingency plans in case Greece quits the single currency area.

French incoming President Francois Hollande said on Wednesday that he would do everything to keep Greece in the eurozone.

Greece has been in political turmoil since the country’s parliamentary elections on May 6 failed to give any of the participating parties an absolute majority. The political crisis has shaken financial markets and pushed experts into questioning the country’s ability to stay in the eurozone.

Athens has announced new general elections on June 17, which, according to analysts, will decide the fate of the country in next decades and determine whether it should go back to its former currency drachma.

Latest statistics show that the Greek economy has lost 6.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012. Greece could go bankrupt by the end of June if international lenders refuse to prop the country up with a EUR-130-billion bailout fund to keep it afloat and inside the eurozone.

GJH/AS/HN

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