New Delhi :Raising the spectre of another carnage in the Indian stock market tomorrow, global shares went into a tailspin today, with European and US stocks tumbling as concerns over Chinese economy rattled investors worldwide.
Stocks from London to Paris to New York all bled, tracking heavy meltdown in Asian markets led by China.
Key European stock indices were sharply down—as much as 8 per cent in late-afternoon trade. The US shares too started off on a shaky note, registering a significant fall, with benchmark 30-share Dow index dropping over 3 per cent.
India’s benchmark Sensex took the bloodiest blow of its lifetime, crashing 1,624.51 points, or 5.94 per cent, to close at 25,741.56 points. The sell-off was across sectors, including energy, banking, auto, IT, infrastructure and real estate.
Meanwhile, among the benchmark European stock indices, France’s CAC 40 nosedived 7 per cent to 4,305.95 while London’s FTSE 100 fell nearly 5 per cent to 5,906.43.
In the US, the Dow index saw a huge fall in the beginning, but managed to recover and was down over 310 points at 16,147.61 points in early morning trade.
S&P 500 slumped over 2 per cent to 1,927.11 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed nearly 3 per cent to trade at 4,594.17.
Shanghai shares dived 8.49 per cent to 3,209.91 while Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled nearly 5 per cent to 18,540.68 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell more than 5 per cent to 21,251.57.
The sharp decline in the European and American stocks could spell further volatility for the Indian market tomorrow.
The market bloodbath, one of the worst since the 2008 global financial crisis, has also stoked fears about the overall health of the world economy, which is witnessing a fragile and uneven recovery.
The rout was triggered by concerns about a sluggish Chinese economy as recent steps by the government have failed to dispel investor fears.
Rupee
The rupee recovered by 26 paise to 66.39 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange in early trade today on fresh selling of the US currency by banks and exporters.
Dealers said fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and banks, and weakening of dollar overseas supported the domestic currency.
Gains in stock markets also helped rupee strengthen against the dollar, they added.
The rupee had tumbled sharply by 82 paise, its biggest single day fall this year, to settle at 66.65 against the dollar yesterday as global meltdown fears remained unabated.
The widespread panic sell-off in Chinese equities predominantly tipped emerging market currencies into turmoil even as the US dollar weakened overseas.
Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex today regained the 26,000-mark by rebounding 383.27 points, or 1.48 per cent, to trade at 26,124.83 in opening trade.
PTI