Asian Markets Down in First Trading After U.S. Downgrade

Gold breaks $1,700 and markets in Asia continue to fall Monday.

Asian markets opened Monday morning and continued the downward turn following the worst week for global markets in three years. After the S&P downgrade, and news that the European Central Bank was going to bail out Spain and Italy, Japan's Nikkei 225 and South Korea's Kospi both dropped 1.3 percent by dinner time Monday, BBC News reports. Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 1.8 percent and gold broke through to $1,700 per ounce, according the Bloomberg. Markets in a Singapore, Taiwan and Australia all fell Monday, reports The New York Times. Analysts told Bloomberg that investors should "brace for turmoil" over the next few weeks. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was on NBC's Meet The Press Sunday morning and said, "Considering the momentum in which the market went down over the last week, it is very unlikely, if history is any guide, that this isn’t going to take a while to bottom out."