A roundup of trading on major world markets:

NEW YORK – Wall Street suffered another slump on Monday as concerns about the economy, contagion from the European debt crisis and rumours of an American Airlines bankruptcy dragged down markets.

Despite a brief rally on news that a key indicator of the health of the US manufacturing sector was better than expected, the main indexes ended the day firmly in the red.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 258.08 points (2.36 per cent) at 10,655.30 at the close, its lowest level since September 2010. The S&P 500 fell 32.19 (2.85 per cent) to 1,099.23, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 79.57 points (3.29 per cent) to 2,335.83.

Banking stocks took much of the brunt.

Bank of America traded down 9.6 per cent, Citigroup was down 9.8 per cent, JPMorgan Chase was down 4.9 percent and Morgan Stanley was down 7.6 per cent.

Also in the spotlight was American Airlines.

Its shares ended the day down a whopping 33.1 per cent, amid rumors that parent company AMR Corp would file for bankruptcy protection.

The broader market had kicked-off the day amid a now-familiar sea of red – on news that Greece will not meet deficit-cutting targets – the focus on Wall Street turned to the domestic.

The Institute of Supply Management’s purchasing managers index (PMI), a closely watched indicator of sentiment in the manufacturing sector, showed a surprise rise.

Bond prices rose significantly. The 10-year Treasury bond yield dropped to 1.75 per cent from 1.92 per cent Friday, while the 30-year yield fell to 2.72 per cent from 2.92 per cent.

Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

LONDON – European stocks closed down but off their early lows while the euro dropped to levels last seen in January after Greece said it would miss deficit targets this year and next, putting even more pressure on the eurozone.

European markets chalked up heavy falls, in line with Asian trade, on the first trading day of the fourth quarter after Greece said the 2011 budget deficit would come in at 8.5 per cent of GDP, well short of its 7.4 per cent target.

At close, London’s FTSE-100 index of leading shares was down 1.03 per cent to 5,075.50 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX fell 2.28 per cent to 5,376.78 points and in Paris the CAC-40 shed 1.85 per cent to 2,926.83 points.

Elsewhere in Europe Madrid lost 2.26 per cent, Milan 1.31 per cent, Amsterdam 1.62 per cent and Brussels 1.62 per cent, with shares in Dexia bank tumbling more than 10 per cent after ratings agency Moody’s warned on the bank’s access to funds.

The euro struck $US1.3238 – the lowest point since January – just as a meeting of eurozone finance ministers began in Luxembourg to review the situation in Greece.

The European single currency later recovered slightly to stand at $US1.3260, down from $US1.3390 in New York late on Friday.

The euro hit a 10-year low at 101.71 yen from 103.27 yen on Friday. The dollar dropped to 76.70 yen from 77.11 yen.

The acknowledgement by Greece on Sunday that it would miss its deficit targets raised further uncertainty over whether its latest cuts would be enough for it to secure the next tranche of its multibillion-euro bailout.

Athens needs the payment to avoid bankruptcy.

HONG KONG – Asian markets have slumped amid renewed fears of a Greek sovereign default and its impact on the global economy.

The euro slid to a more than eight-month low versus the US dollar with no end in sight to the European debt crisis as eurozone finance ministers prepared to meet in Luxembourg to discuss Greece’s progress.

Stocks plunged around the region, with Hong Kong leading the losses, down 4.38 per cent. The benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 770.26 points to end at 16,822.15 – its lowest close since May 2009.

Tokyo stocks closed down 1.78 per cent as exporters tumbled on a weaker euro despite an improvement in the Bank of Japan’s closely watched Tankan survey of business confidence.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 154.81 points down to 8,545.48, after dipping 2.8 per cent at one point in the afternoon trade.

Worries over the eurozone overshadowed the Tankan survey, which showed Japanese business sentiment turned positive in the third quarter as companies recovered from the impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Sydney was off 2.78 per cent at the close, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 111.6 points lower at 3,897.0 points while Wellington was down 0.83 per cent.

Markets in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand were all sharply down at the close. South Korea and China were closed.

Many Asian markets saw their worst quarterly losses since the 2008 financial crisis in the fear-fuelled third quarter, as investors dumped equities for safer assets on worries over a global recession.

The euro slid to a more than eight-month low versus the dollar.

The single European currency fell to as low as $1.3311 in Tokyo trade, down from $1.3451 in New York late Friday, its lowest level against the greenback since January 18. It fetched $1.3354 at 0840 GMT.

The European unit sagged to 102.72 yen from 103.12 yen.

The dollar was flat at 76.89 yen.

Singapore slipped 53.76 points, or 2.01 per cent, to 2,621.40.

WELLINGTON – New Zealand stocks fell on Monday, but outperformed in a global sell-off, amid perceptions the New Zealand economy is in relatively good shape.