Tens of billions of dollars have been lost from the values of stock exchanges worldwide, but sharemarkets' reactions to Greece's ''no'' vote on Sunday were more subdued than expected.
The decline in US stocks was modest compared with the falls in leading European equity markets and in the oil market - where US oil prices fell nearly 8%.
During the past 24 hours, the ''safe haven'' of gold saw prices spike from $US1163 ($NZ1743) to $US1174, then trade just under $US1170.
Some analysts had predicted losses around 5% or more, while Craigs Investment Partners broker Peter McIntyre had expected losses in a range of 2%-4%.
''The relative calmness in the markets was a surprise,'' he said.
Global equities had come under increasing pressure, after Greece's referendum on Sunday rejected the terms being imposed by international lenders, which put Greece a step closer to a potential exit from the euro zone.
''The main indexes fell sharply at the open [of Monday's trading], but then trimmed losses during the day, to end modestly lower,'' Mr McIntyre said; also reflected in both the ASX and NZX.
He said the US markets had come to the realisation the International Monetary Fund and euro zone partners were not about to dump Greece from the European Union, but wanted to work closely with Greece to resolve the impasse.
However, European stocks were affected on Monday by investors who asked ''what's next'', for Greece and euro zone following the ''no'' vote, Mr McIntyre said.
''Most of the region's major indexes suffered losses of more than 1% at the close,'' Mr McIntyre said.
The China Shanghai Composite, which has plunged almost 30% during the past three weeks, was the only one of the major bourses to post a gain, up 2.4 %; albeit with ''choppy'' trading, Mr McIntyre said.
At the start of trade, the Shanghai Composite surged 7.8% then pulled back to neutral territory, closing up 2.4%, he said.
In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 1.2%, which was its lowest close since February, Mr McIntyre said.
''Most [European] sectors were in the red, with bank stocks the hardest hit in the financials group,'' he said.
Oil prices had ''skidded'' to their biggest single day losses in more than three months, Mr McIntyre said.
''Because China's stock markets have plunged in recent weeks, that's sparked investor concern about oil demand from the world's second largest consumer,'' he said.
US oil prices sank almost 8% on worries about slowing global growth after Sunday's vote, and China moved to calm financial market turbulence, AFP reported.
''With the crisis in Greece, with the Chinese market unstable, the demand we once saw for global oil is eroding quickly,'' said Carl Larry, a consultant for Frost & Sullivan in Houston.
The Greece crisis has also boosted the dollar, raising the cost of crude for those using other currencies.
Volatility in China's equities markets spurred Beijing to step into support them, but served to underscore weaknesses in the Chinese economy that could impact energy consumption there.
Bart Melek, head of commodity strategy at TD Securities, said on top of the doubts about petroleum demand, ''we have huge supply issues'' with OPEC pumping ''hugely'' above quota.
Two members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, together pumped about 900,000 barrels per day more in May 2015 than they did a year ago, Matt Smith, analyst at ClipperData, said.
