Boston Marathon bomb blast shakes US markets

The US' three major equity markets dropped overnight after a bomb blast at the Boston Marathon shook markets and weak data from China continued to weigh on stocks.

Three people were killed and many injured in two explosions close to the finish line of the marathon, in an act of suspected terrorism which has shocked the US. The S&P 500 ended the session 2.3% lower at 1,552, having hit a record high last week, while the Dow suffered its worst day of the year to shed 1.8%, and the Nasdaq closed 2.4% lower. Asian markets continued their slide, with the Nikkei 225 falling 0.41% to 13,221 and the Shanghai Composite down 1.13% to 2,182. The FTSE 100 lost 0.64% to close of 6,343. Oil prices dropped in Asia, with US light crude down by 1.9%, and Br...