World stock markets fell further Wednesday while the euro slid to a fresh 13-month low as three people died in a blaze at an Athens bank during rioting against austerity measures imposed as part of an international bailout package for heavily indebted Greece. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 96.41 points, or 1.8 percent, at 5,314.70 while Germany's DAX fell 69.95 points, or 1.2 percent, to 5,936.91. The CAC-40 in France was 68.31 points, or 1.9 percent, lower at 3,620.98. No relief came at the US open despite better than anticipated jobs data – the Dow Jones Industrials average fell 80.49 points, or 0.7 percent, at 10,846.28 while the Standard and amp; Poor's 500 shed 12.63 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,160.97. Meanwhile, the euro slid to $1.2859, its lowest level since late April 2009. The selling pressure accentuated as Greek fire officials confirmed that three people died in a blaze at an Athens bank during a 100,000-strong protest in the city against spending cuts aimed at saving the country from bankruptcy. This week's sharp stock market declines have come despite the weekend's €110 billion ($143 billion) bailout package for Greece – the deal has done little to assuage market fears that the crisis will spread to other countries like Portugal and Spain. “The escalation of public protests in Greece clearly reflects that the country is not swallowing the bitter pill of austerity,” said Jane Foley, research director at Forex.com. “These conditions suggest it is probably impossible for Greece to achieve its dual aim of slashing its budget deficit and simultaneously meeting all of its debt obligations,” she added. As if developments in Greece weren't bad enough, investors were reminded of the precarious situation in Portugal, after Moody's Investor Services warned that the country faced a possible two-notch downgrade in its current credit rating of Aa2 some time over the next three months. “The review for possible downgrade will consider a repositioning of Portugal's ratings to reflect the potentially lasting deterioration in the government's debt metrics,” said Anthony Thomas, a senior analyst at Moody's. Stocks were down 3.8 percent in Portugal and 5.3 percent in Greece. Earlier in Asia, a number of markets slid as investors responded to the sharp declines recorded Tuesday in Europe and the US – Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed 2.1 percent lower at 20,327.54. Australia's index skidded 1.3 percent, while Indonesia's main market dropped 2.6 percent and Taiwan sank 3 percent. China's benchmark Shanghai index, meanwhile, recovered early losses to rise 0.8 percent. Markets in Japan, South Korea and Thailand were closed.
