Markets fall as Greek bailout under threat

Markets fell on Tuesday, although US stocks again managed to finish off the day's lows. The S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent after having fallen as much as 1.6 percent earlier. The STOXX Europe 600 fell 1.7 percent while Greece’s ASE index plunged 3.6 percent to close at the lowest level since November 1992. The euro fell 0.3 percent against the US dollar and 0.4 percent against the yen.

Markets were unnerved by threats from Alexis Tsipras of Greece’s Syriza party to renounce support for the implementation of austerity measures as required by the terms of the European Union bailout.

However, while Greece and some of the other peripheral eurozone economies are floundering, the German economy continues to outperform. German industrial production jumped 2.8 percent in March, well above economists' forecast for a gain of 0.8 percent and more than reversing February's 0.3 percent decline in output.