Stocks bleed; Sensex plunges 704 pts, investors lose Rs 2L cr

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai, Sept 22, 2011: Stock markets turned a sea of red today, with the BSE Sensex plunging the most in 26 months - down 704 points to 16,361.15 - as investors dumped equities globally on US Fed warning on the American economy, triggering fresh fears of worldwide slowdown.

All the 13 sectoral indices closed with sharp losses of up to 6 per cent, while all 30 Sensex-scrips closed in red.

Investors lost over Rs 2 lakh crore in the meltdown.

Besides, fall of the rupee to over 2-year lows against the US dollar -- Rs 49.36 per USD in intra-day trade -- weakest level since July 13, 2009, added to investor worries.
Asian and European markets tumbled, following drubbing of the Wall Street as funds pulled out of risky assets on worries over slowing global economy.

Analysts said the US Federal Reserve disappointed investors with its stimulus plan yesterday, while warning of serious downside risks to American growth amid severe euro zone debt crisis.

The US indices, Dow Jones and Nasdaq tanked 2.49 per cent and 2.01 per cent respectively, weighing heavily on other global markets today.

The Hong Kong’s Heng Seng dropped 4.85 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei by 2.07 per cent, Indonesia’s index by 8.88 per cent. Markets fell more than 3 per cent in Taiwan, Russia and Poland. The European indices, led by London’ FTSE plunged 4.55 per cent, followed by Paris - 4.65 per cent - in early trade.

The 30-share BSE index, Sensex, opened 230 points lower and plunged to 16,361.15, a fall of 704.00 points or 4.13 per cent. It had plunged by 869.65 points or 5.83 per cent on July 6, 2009.

Similarly, the broad-based NSE index Nifty plunged 209.60 points, or 4.08 per cent to close below 5K mark at 4,923.65.

Courtesy: Deccan Herald