Concerns about European government debt levels hit shares in New York
US stockmarkets have plunged in New York as concerns about high levels of European government debt continued to shake investor confidence.
Stocks fell steeply on fears that Greece's debt problems will spread and halt the global economic recovery.
At one point the Dow Jones was down by more than 9%, its worst fall since 1987, before starting to recover.
By 1525 in New York the Dow Jones was down 4.40%, the S&P down 4.34%, and Nasdaq 4.64%.
As well as shares falling, bond prices increased and the dollar fell by 6% against the yen.
'Panic sell'
There are fears that banks which are still recovering from the 2008 global banking crisis are exposed to Greek debt.
Investors were disappointed that earlier today the European Central Bank did not take fresh measures, such as buying Greek bonds, to help stop the Greek debt crisis.
"Right now you just have a panic sell," said Keith Springer, president of Capital Financial Advisory Services in Sacramento, California.
"It could be a long-term negative for stock market because it could mean the long-term high is in place. It's very likely we've seen the highs for this cycle."
However, others said the volatility could be down to electronic trading issues rather than worries about Greece.
"This is an electronic market where bids can be cancelled at the flick of a button, and everyone cancelled at the same time," said Joe Saluzzi, of Themis Trading in New Jersey.
"We should be down big today, but not 1,000 points. This is an equity market structure issue, there's no major problem going on."
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