The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 107 points as economic instability continued to rack emerging markets across the globe. On Monday, South Africa announced that the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) had contracted by 0.7%, indicating that the African nation may be on the verge of a recession.
South Africa's economic woes are the latest financial crisis to threaten emerging market currencies - the Mexican peso, Indonesian rupiah, Turkish lira, and Argentine peso all fell on concerns about global government debt. The contagion appears to be spreading in the wake of sharp currency declines in Argentina and Turkey. However, this is not a sign that investors should throw in the towel quite yet...
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Here are the numbers from Tuesday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
| Index | Previous Close | Point Change | Percentage Change |
| Dow Jones | 25,952.48 | -12.34 | -0.05% |
| Nasdaq | 8,091.25 | -18.29 | -0.23% |
| S&P 500 | 2,896.72 | -4.80 | -0.17% |
Now here's a closer look at today's Money Morning insight, the most important market events, and stocks to watch.
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About the Author
Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.