Sensex crashes by 450 pts on fears of US economy meltdown
By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 14 March 2007, 17:30 IST
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New Delhi: The Indian stock market went into a tailspin shedding the gains of the previous two trading sessions on renewed fears about the meltdown in the US economy. The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex lost 453.36 point, or 3.49 percent, to close at 12,529.62 on massive selling by funds, with IT, banking, cement and capital goods stocks being big losers. At close, the Sensex had slipped 14.9 percent from its all-time peak of 14,723.88; hit on 9 February reported a national daily. The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty dropped by 129.45 points, or 3.43 per cent at 3,641.10 after moving between 3,768.40 and 3,623.00 points. Dealers said the bearish trends might continue as retail investors await global clues for investment decisions after the mortgage data raised fresh concerns over the health of the US housing market and the broader economy. "Equities are a word people are worried to talk about. Investors have lowered positions and will look at global clues to see if a recovery is on the cards," said Manoj Kakaiya, a dealer with brokerage ULJK Securities. Similar sentiments were seen across Asian markets, hit by a fresh round of turmoil after Wall Street tumbled overnight on figures showed growing problems in the US housing market. A sharp rise in delinquency rates on US mortgages, especially in the riskier sub-prime segment, knocked sentiment badly on Wall Street where weaker-than-expected retail sales data added to the negative tone. The resulting loss of nearly 2 percent in New York set the Asian markets up for a punishing tumble Wednesday -- Tokyo shed 2.92 percent, Sydney 2.1 percent, Hong Kong 2.57 percent and Seoul 2 percent.

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