Global markets plunge

Stocks worldwide tumbled today,with most of the Asian and European markets plummeting over 2 per cent.

Stocks worldwide tumbled today,with most of the Asian and European markets plummeting over 2 per cent,as the rising Eurozone debt woes coupled with escalating tension in the Korea peninsula battered investor sentiment.

Right from Tokyo to London to Frankfurt,investors went on a selling spree,pushing benchmark indices as much as 3 per cent down.

Among the major losers in Asia and Europe were the Japanese Nikkei,Hong Kong’s Hang Seng,London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40.

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The weekend rescue of Spanish bank Cajasur by the central bank of that country has sparked fresh fears that debt crisis in Europe could worsen in the coming days. The sentiment was further dampened by the International Monetary Fund’s statement that Spain needs more reform measures.

The Nikkei dropped 3 per cent to 9,459.89 points and Hang Seng went scuttling down by 3.47 per cent to 18,985.50 points.

The Asia markets were also spooked by the increasing tension between South Korea and North Korea. Tension in the Korean Peninsula has been rising,since international investigators pointed fingers at the North for sinking a South Korean warship.

South Korean benchmark Kospi shed 2.75 per cent to end the day at 1,560.83 points. Australia’s key S&P/ASX 200 and India’s Sensex too nosedived about 3 per cent to 4,265.30 points and 16,022.48 points,respectively.

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China’s key Shanghai SE Composite declined nearly 2 per cent to 2,622.63 points,on concerns that Chinese authorities may resort to more financial and economic tightening measures.

In Europe,all the key indices deep in the red. The FTSE 100 skid nearly 3 per cent to 4,922.02 points,while French benchmark CAC 40 index tanked 3.57 per cent to 3,308.28 points and Germany’s DAX index was down about 3 per cent at 5,636.19 points in their morning deals.

Meanwhile,the Wall Street was rattled by the spectre of European financial woes yesterday. Dow Jones shed over 1 per cent to 10,066.57 points while the broader S&P 500 declined to 1,073.65 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq too closed in the red at 2,213.55 points.