Around the World's Markets: New York

US STOCKS fell for the first time in eight days, amid profit-taking and continued worries about the Brazilan economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading sharply lower in afternoon trading, down 83 points at 9536.48.

One trader said the fall was a "necessary pull-back" in the Dow, which has posted record gains since the beginning of the year. The Nasdaq index also fell, trading down just over 2 per cent at 2334.21 at lunchtime.