The S&P/ASX 200 index finished the day down nearly 1%, or 31.2 points, to 4008.3, while the All Ordinaries followed suit, shedding 29.8 points to close on 4067.9.

Wall Street closed lower with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.61%, or 179.79 points, to 11,010.9, while the S&P 500 Index shed 2.07%, or 24.32 points, to 1151.06.

Reports emerged global equities and commodities were poised for their worst quarterly losses since 2008 amid concern Greece would default on its debt and contagion would drag the global economy into a recession.

The European Commission is resisting a push to impose bigger write-downs on bank holdings of Greek sovereign debt than those previously agreed on, Bloomberg quoted a European official as saying.

The European Union proposed a financial transaction tax to take effect in 2014 and Spain and Italy extended temporary bans on short selling of financial shares.

“The market is on pins and needles over the whole European debt problem,”Bloomberg quoted New Mexico-based Thornburg Investment Management Inc head of equity trading Thomas Garcia as saying.

In other news, Hong Kong closed its financial markets, schools, courts and government offices after raising its highest storm signal in two years as Typhoon Nesat swept gale force winds and rain into the city.

At last report the typhoon, which killed at least 35 people in the Philippines, was centred about 370 kilometres southwest of Hong Kong and heading toward China’s Hainan Island.

In local news, the High Court of Australia granted special leave for Fortescue Metals Group and its chief executive Andrew Forrest to appeal the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia’s decision of February 18.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission said it would defend the appeal.

“This case raises important issues which form the bedrock of confidence in the integrity of our markets, including misleading and deceptive conduct, continuous disclosure and directors’ duties,” ASIC acting chairperson Belinda Gibson said in a statement.

In February the Full Court, by a unanimous decision, found FMG had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and contravened the continuous disclosure provisions of the Corporations Act and that Forrest was involved in those contraventions and breached his duties as a director.

A hearing date for the appeal has not been set.

The major miners closed lower with BHP Billiton down 48c to $35.04, while Rio Tinto shed $1.60 to $62.45, Fortescue Metals Group dropped 7c to $4.45, OZ Minerals shed 26c to $9.39 and Paladin Energy closed down 14c to $1.17.

There were no real stand-outs in terms of share price gains today, but junior explorer Attila Resources took out the wooden spoon gong with its shares down 25%, or 5c, to 15c on no news.

Gold stocks were down with Australia’s largest locally owned miner Newcrest Mining dropping 95c to $34.16, while Kingsgate Consolidated shed 21c to $7.13.

At 4.20pm (AEST) the spot price of gold was up $US12 to $1621.50 an ounce, while the Australian dollar remained below parity, fetching US98c.