Dow dives under 10,000 as global markets suffer

US markets opened lower today amid investor concerns over the eurozone and political turmoil in Korea.

The S&P 500 dropped 2.53% in early trading, while the Nasdaq opened around 3% down at 2,157, dragged lower by a sell-off in technology stocks. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell below 10,000 for the first time since February.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 continued to suffer in afternoon trading, down 2.81% to 4,927.

Banks led the laggers, with Lloyds falling further in the afternoon, down 9.19% to 50.37p a share. Royal Bank of Scotland was down 5.8%, a slight recovery from this morning's trading, while Barclays slumped 6.42%.

London's shares, which opened trading 2.5% in negative territory, have also been impacted by heavy falls in Asian markets, with Japan's Nikkei falling to its lowest level in three months as possible military conflict in Korea rattled investors.

The political fallout in Korea has also hit mining shares hard, with ENRC, Kazakhmys, Xstrata and Antofagasta all suffering as industrial metals prices slide. Rio Tinto was down 4.05% by 2.30pm GMT, while BHP Billiton fell 2.89%.

European markets are also in freefall, with the German Dax down 2.94% and Paris' Cac 40 falling 3.69%.

Meanwhile, the single currency was also under renewed pressure, weakening for a second day against the US dollar. Yesterday the euro fell more than 1.5%, dropping from $1.2376 to $1.2346.