World market overview U．S．stocks steepened their declineTuesday(November 23，2010)after the Federal Reserve downgraded its US economic projections in the minutes of its latest meeting，citing worse than exDeeted growth．The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 159 points，or 1．4％，to 11020 Tuesday．Markets had fallen earlier in the day after a skirmish between North Korea and South Korea and as worries lingered over the stability of euro—zone debt．Stocks fell Tuesday after minutes showed central bank officials downgraded their assessment of the US economy at their last meetingthree weeks ago． The fed expects the economy to grow at a moderate pace next year．With unemployment staying disappointingly high and inflation uncomfortably low．The market may also be disappointed that eentral bank didn’t give more details about how it will evaluate and potentially adjust the scope of the$600 billion bond buying program it announced earlier this month．The market’s reaction to the program，known as quantitative easing or QE2 has been mixed，as some have worried the bond purchases could spur inflation．The Nasdaq Composite fell 1．6％to 2493． Meanwhile，investors continued to worry over the debt situation in the euro zone，where the focus is shifting to Portugal and Spain after Ireland agreed to a bailout package on Sunday．