Overnight Markets: US stocks fall on eurozone debt concerns

Wall Street suffered its worst day in nearly a month on Monday as concern grew Europe’s debt crisis will spread and American lawmakers failed to agree on cutting the deficit.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 151 points, or 1.2%, at 12,506 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 24 points, or 1.81%, at 1,319. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 57 points, or 2%, at 2,803.

Equities suffered as investors worried that Europe’s debt crisis was spreading across to the larger economies of Italy and Spain. Adding to the gloom, Barack Obama, US President, promised he would meet with Congress until the debt debate is over, after a futile weekend meeting where Democrats reiterated the need for a “balanced” approach, while Republicans insisted that tax rises would further worsen an already hurting economy.

Financials and other economically sensitive stocks led the day's broad decline. Bank of America lost 3.3%, while JPMorgan Chase was down 3.1% ahead of upcoming earnings results this week. Elsewhere, Hewlett-Packard was down 3.2% with Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold shedding 3.3%. An S&P financial index dropped 2.8% and ranked as the biggest loser among the S&P 500's sectors.

News Corp shares declined 7.6% on heavy volume as Britain looked for a way out of approving the company's multibillion-dollar deal to buy broadcaster BSkyB amid a phone-hacking scandal.

On the positive side, Alcoa gained 0.3% in extended-hours trading after posting a big jump in second-quarter profit.

In Asia, equities declined on Tuesday in late morning trade after US legislators failed to agree on cutting the deficit and concern increased on eurozone debt crisis, risking earnings at financial companies.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 1.7% to 134 as of 11:12 a.m. in Tokyo. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.5%. South Korea’s Kospi Index dropped 2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 2.2%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.4%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index sank 1.7%.