Occupy Wall Street protestors clash with police outside New York Stock Exchange

Some 25 people were arrested as clashes broke out between Occupy Wall Street activists and workers and police outside the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. 

Reuters/Mike Segar

While the stock market opened on time, protesters managed a 45-minute blockade outside the NYSE. Police eventually intervened to break through, establishing a corridor to escort Wall Street traders and workers.

The protests were part of a ‘Global Day of Action’ announced by the website occupywallst.org, with demonstrations across the United States combined with protests in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Nigeria, Poland and Spain.

The day of protest came after New York police earlier this week cleared out the movement’s original base - a tent camp erected in Manhattan's Zuccotti Park on 17 September.

Security forces have also torn down protest camps in several US cities including Oakland, Portland and Dallas, and the Occupy movement finds itself with less space to occupy and its future in doubt.

According to www.occupywallst.org, Spanish university students in a dozen cities will go on strike and a demonstration was planned in Madrid, where the 'indignant' protests were a precursor of the 'occupy' movement.