U.S. and European stock prices plunged on Thursday after Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece's credit rating.

At the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 156 points from Wednesday to close at 12-thousand-442-point-49.

The S&P 500 index slid 19-point-94 points to one-thousand-304-point-86 while the Nasdaq composite index fell around 60 points to two-thousand-813-point-69.

Meanwhile, European stock prices plunged for fourth day as shares in Britain, France and Germany fell one-point-two percent.