Stocks, euro and oil sag on fears over Greece, economy

Global equities posted their biggest declines in about three months and the euro slumped on Tuesday on a new round of worries that Greece may not meet its looming deadline for a debt restructuring. Concerns about the strength of the global economy also weighed on markets.
Brazil, which is South America's largest economy and has been one of the world's most dynamic emerging markets, reported weak growth for 2011 that raised fears it is slipping into a new era of mediocre growth. That came a day after China cut its growth forecast and data indicated that Europe is likely to fall back into recession.
The fears that Greece and its bondholders may not meet the Thursday deadline that is needed for Greece to receive critically important bailout funds rekindled on Tuesday as the main bondholders group said a disorderly default would cause more than a trillion euros of damage to the euro zone and could leave Italy and Spain dependent on outside help to stop the spread of contagion.
The fears over Greece drove up the prices of safe-haven US and German government bonds. Gold fell more than 2 percent as the dollar strengthened against the euro. MSCI's all-country world equity index fell 2.1 percent, its biggest one-day drop since late November. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 218.30 points, or 1.68 percent, at 12,744.51. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 23.19 points, or 1.70 percent, at 1,341.14. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 46.48 points, or 1.58 percent, at 2,904.02.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares posted its lowest close in a month on Tuesday, finishing down 2.6 percent at 1,052.11 points. In the currency market, the euro fell 0.8 percent against the dollar at $1.3116, its lowest level in 2-1/2 weeks, while the dollar index was up 0.6 percent at 79.81, its highest since February 16.
Brent crude oil futures for April delivery shed $1.83 at $122.97 a barrel. In New York, the April NYMEX crude contract declined $1.94 at $104.78 a barrel. Spot gold prices continued to pare recent gains to trade down 2.1 percent at $1,670.69 an ounce, the lowest level in about five weeks.