Wall Street slides on Europe fears and poor US housing figures

US pending home sales decline in April, after expectations of an unchanged figure

Wall Street has followed European markets lower on growing fears about Spain's financial position, and some poor US housing figures have done nothing to soothe investors' nerves.

Pending home sales - contracts to buy previously owned houses - fell by 5.5% in April, compared to expectations of an unchanged reading. The report goes against recent optimism about a recovery in the US housing market.

So the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down around 140 points, or just over 1%, following the news. Elsewhere the FTSE 100 is down 86 points or 1.6%, Germany is 1.3% lower while France has fallen 1.75%. Italy and Spain have lost more than 1.5% each.

Rising Spanish and Italian bond yields continue to put pressure on the weaker members of the eurozone, while early enthusiasm for new EU proposals to help bail out struggling banks appears to have waned.

Meanwhile, back in the US, Facebook shares have edged up 1.4% in early trading after an intial fall, but at $29.26 are still well below the flotation price.