STOCKS ON WALL STREET have been affected by investor fears over a debt crisis in Europe and a possible conflict in Asia.

The Financial Times reports that the drop in financial sector shares caused the fall on Wall St today as fear spreads that the Irish bailout will not prevent further problems for eurozone banks.

The S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq were all down today, according to Bloomberg.

Shares in Ireland’s banks continued to fall today despite Sunday’s announcement the the country had applied for EU/IMF funding from an international contingency fund.

Monument Securities chief economist Stephen Lewis told the FT that Irish banking woes had generated concern over the stringency of the EU’s tests: “No Irish bank failed the EU’s stress tests… clearly, the methodology employed in those tests was not adequate to give early warning of potential trouble”.

Military action between North and South Korea today also caused market jitters.

The escalation of tensions in Korea unnerved the markets and is likely to continue doing so until a resolution is reached, the New York Times reports.

Coincidentally, the North Korean ambassador to Ireland was welcomed by the Dáil this evening.