Stocks on Wall Street slipped on Monday on more worries about Europe as borrowing costs for Spain rose to high levels.
The yield on Spanish 10-year bonds, rose above 7 percent, which is considered to be unsustainable in the long term.
The Dow Jones Index closed down 36 points at 12,736. The Nasdaq Composite was down 6 points at 2,932.
The FTSE 100 in London was down 0.62%, the DAX in Frankfurt was down 0.35% and the CAC40 in Paris was down 0.38%.
Across the Tasman, the Australian 200 Index fell 39 points, or nearly 1%, at 4,118 and the NZX50 index closed up 2 points, at 3480.
At 8.30am on Tuesday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 79.7 US cents, 78.08 Australian cents, 51.32 pence, 63.43 yen and 0.6471 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 72.41.
Brent crude oil was trading at nearly $US100 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1591 per ounce.
