Greek turmoil sends US and world markets lower

In the United States, the market sank Monday before the surprise Greek announcement. MF Global Holdings, a securities firm led by former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, was driven into bankruptcy in part because it held European debt.

The selling accelerated after the Greek announcement, and the U.S. market opened Tuesday with a drop of almost 300 points. The market recovered some of those losses later in the morning.

The Dow Jones industrial average was at 11,731 as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern. The S&P 500 was down 27, or 2.1 percent, to 1,226. The Nasdaq composite was down 57, or 2.1 percent, to 2,627.

Pfizer Inc. was the only company in the Dow to rise. It gained 2.3 percent after its quarterly results beat Wall Street’s estimates.

Some of the selling in stocks came because investors were eager to lock in profits after an almost uninterrupted rally in October. The Dow had its best month in nine years, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index its best in 20 years.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note sank to 2 percent from 2.16 percent late Monday, a steep drop. Bond yields fall when their prices rise as investors buy assets that are considered to better hold their value during a slowing economy. The dollar rose to $1.36 for every euro.

The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond sank from 3.38 percent Friday to 3 percent Tuesday.

“That’s the biggest change that I’ve seen in my career,” LeBas said. “It’s obscene.”

The yields of Italian debt spiked to their highest level this year, another sign that investors are concerned that the debt crisis could spread to the larger economies of Europe. The yield on 1-year Italian government bonds soared 48 percent to 5.17 percent.

The yield on the 10-year German bund plunged to 1.78 percent, a 23.5 percent fall from the day before. The German economy is seen as the strongest in Europe and the most likely to repay its debt.